Different beginning
by Yagami 85
Summary: Though Tatsuya lost his emotions, or 'urges', this doesn't mean that he can't feel anything. It doesn't mean that his emotions can't come back. In reality, Tatsuya is very powerful, especially without his limiter. What if he gets to develop himself to his fullest potential?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Awakening

Disclaimer: I do not own Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei or any of its vibrant characters.

* * *

(Miyuki's POV)

As I stood around in the middle of the dance hall, I closed my eyes briefly as I felt the cool breeze from the air conditioner on me, causing my dress to sway slightly. I say 'briefly' because I had no choice but to quickly open my eyes and look focused as my 'conversation partner' continued talking. This 'conversation partner' was my uncle, Kuroba oji-san, who was talking (more like praising in a very exaggerated manner) about his children.

"Ah yes, my son also shows excellence in his magic techniques. Huhu…not only is he talented in his studies but it seems that talented nature of his also extends towards his magic abilities as well." My uncle said as he brought his wine glass closer to his mouth before taking a sip.

"Ah…certainly. Fumiya-kun definitely has quite some talent." I said with a forced smile.

Now, don't misunderstand. The Yotsuba, as a family, is fiercely loyal to each other. However, that is not to say we actually like each other for the most part. Fumiya-kun, my cousin, is my competitor for the position of the head of the Yotsuba. He is also the pride of Kuroba oji-san. I do not despise my cousin, Fumiya-kun. But honestly, the ridiculous amount of praise I'm being forced to hear from my over-enthusiastic uncle is really getting on my nerves.

"Geez, dad…stop praising us like that." Fumiya-kun said in a embarrassed tone of voice.

"Why should I? My children are so brilliant. As a father, it is my right to be proud of my children!" Kuroba oji-san said loudly.

I inwardly sighed while Fumiya-kun groaned out loud.

"Ne ne, Miyuki-san, where is Tatsuya-san?" Fumiya-kun said with an excited voice.

'Well, I was waiting for this.' I inwardly thought.

"He is over there in the corner." I replied back in a polite tone.

Fumiya-kun and his sister, Ayako-chan, both looked to the corner that I pointed to. Ah…Fumiya-kun's cheeks are starting to get red. He didn't notice my brother yet. I used my hands to direct Fumiya-kun's gaze towards my brother.

"Tatsuya-san!" Fumiya-kun excitedly shouted out before proceeding to run towards my brother. Ayako-chan let out a sign, seemingly exasperated with her brother's 'improper behavior'. However, as she also quickly proceeded to make her way towards my brother (a little too quick in my opinion).

For Ani's part, he kept shifting his gaze between Fumiya-kun and Ayako-chan back and forth. He was nodding attentively while listening to Fumiya-kun's excited words as the corners of his lips shifted slightly upwards, showing a little teeth in the process. His eyes became warm. The warmth that radiated from his eyes seemed to encompass both my cousins as his gaze rested on them.

My breath hitched.

He smiled? Even though he never gave me such an expression before!

Those eyes.

Those grey eyes that were always so cold and bereft of warmth. Why were they radiating such warmth now?

Why weren't those beautiful eyes directed at me?!

"Come on, Fumiya. Ayako. Tatsuya-kun is busy now." Kuroba oji-san reprimanded lightly in an obvious attempt to separate his beloved children from the 'failure' that is my brother.

"Please, otou-san. Tatsuya-san and Miyuki-san are going to leave soon. Let me hang around him for a bit longer." Fumiya-kun whined while Ayako-chan nodded in agreement.

While Kuroba oji-san remained bewildered at the sudden use of the term 'otou-san' (since my cousins never used this formal term for their own father, even in public), I immediately caught on to their true intentions.

He may be considered a 'failure' by the Yotsuba but we still like him so don't interfere, alright, 'otou-san'?

was probably what they were trying to imply.

Fortunately for my uncle, Ani unexpectedly threw him a lifeline.

"Sorry, Fumiya-kun, Ayako-chan. I still have work to do. Come now, don't make things difficult for your father." Ani said.

"Yes yes. That's right. Come on, you two. Don't make things difficult for Tatsuya-kun. That's a good attitude you have there, Tatsuya-kun." My uncle praised calculatively as he quickly held onto the lifeline Ani threw to him.

Upon seeing Ani side with their father instead of them, Fumiya-kun and Ayako-chan could only give up with a "Fine".

Shortly after that episode, Ani returned to the side of the dance hall. In today's party, they were many distinguished and wealthy individuals who attended. Given their power and influence, and thus their need for protection, they brought along their bodyguards who stood at the side of the dance hall, ready to jump into action if necessary.

* * *

After about one and a half hour or so, I was still walking around the dance hall. As I continued to walk around, I felt that Ani's eyes were on me, following me, watching me…

I quickly shook my head to clear it of such irrelevant thoughts. Of course his eyes would be on me! He was my guardian, after all. He was, if one was to put it bluntly, a tool that was to protect me and, if necessary, act as a human shield for me.

However, as I tried to clear my head of such thoughts, I suddenly tripped. It would appear that while I was distracted, I tripped over one of the legs of a nearby chair. As I fell, my hands quickly placed themselves onto the ground so as to prevent myself from hitting my face on the floor. One of my legs was bent while the other was straight. It was, needlessly to say, an incredibly awkward and embarrassing posture given the location and event.

I colored in embarrassment as people all around me started snickering, both male and female, young and old. I felt tears start to form at the corner of my eyes and I quickly closed them to prevent tears from forming any further.

I'm a Yotsuba. A Yotsuba member must always show the dignity and strength that he or she, as a member of one of the most powerful clans in Japan, should possess. As such, Yotsuba members cannot cry, especially in public.

Clack. Clack. Clack. I heard footsteps in front of me as the sound got closer and closer to me. As I lifted my head, my eyes met grey ones.

Ani was standing in front of me. His cold, gray eyes filled not with warmth but with power. His grey eyes slightly glowing, they seemed to be filled with something I cannot describe? Passion, love and kindness yet without the normal warmth of the human heart.

Suddenly, his tuxedo glowed brightly. As his tuxedo continued to glow, I could see the form of the tuxedo start to change. The black jacket became longer while his white shirt turned black. The black color of both his jacket and long pants became more intense as the collars of his shirt and jacket became more pronounced. In short, what was once an ordinary, standard tuxedo became a magnificent, fully black tuxedo.

Though I saw his tuxedo changing form, I 'felt' that the information was not being altered like trying to perform an illusion. It was something…different.

He then got down on one knee before offering his right hand to me. I lifted up my left hand and was about to accept his gesture of support but I abruptly stopped as I found myself mesmerized by Ani's beautiful eyes.

Yes, that's right.

Look at me with those eyes.

Look only at me with those eyes.

Those eyes that are filled with love.

With passion.

With kindness.

Even if you look at me without warmth,

just continue to stare at me with those powerful, enrapturing eyes.

Forever and ever.

Gaze at me eternally.

Keep looking at me like that.

For your little sister.

'Wait-what?!' I shook my head as I, again, tried to clear my head of such thoughts. 'What am I thinking? It's almost like I have a brother complex!'

I quickly put my right hand on my brother's, especially as he started to look at me oddly. I was ready to thank him and then make a quick, dignified exit out of this party before my brother spoke up.

Ani put his right hand on his chest, directly over the heart, as he bowed to me formally.

"May I have this dance?" Ani asked in a dignified tone of voice.

His tone stunned me. He was not addressing me with a tone that a servant uses to speak to his master. He was not addressing me with a tone that a brother uses to speak to his sister (which he does in public, for appearance sake, though he still addresses me politely even in public). He was speaking to me in a tone that equals would use with each other. Or perhaps, to be more specific, as a man would use to address a woman.

His current tone, so unlike his usual stoic one, was enchanting, enrapturing and seductive. I felt a shiver run up my spine as I wrapped my arms around each other. It took me a moment to realize that he was offering me a chance. A chance of redemption. A chance to repair my image among these powerful individuals that have gathered here today.

I quickly took it.

I curtsied.

"You may."

* * *

As my brother twirled me around the dance floor, I felt an indescribable feeling. I felt exhilarated. I felt excited. That is not to say that I was happy. It would instead be more accurate to say that I was in ecstasy. I was, in a sense, completely enraptured and bewitched as my brother and I continued dancing with each other.

His dance steps were light. His dance steps were fast.

His dance was graceful. His dance was elegant. His dance was enchanting.

His dance was seductive.

We were technically doing what I infer to be a variation of the waltz and the tango, with heavier emphasis on the waltz. His dance steps had the elegance and grace of the waltz. Yet, his speed was more like that of the tango. His hands constantly moved from my hips to my upper back, to my face and to my arms with a featherlike touch. As his hands slowly moved up my spine, I shivered slightly before melting into his body.

Our dance had captured everyone's attention. We had become, as one might say, the highlight of the party. In fact, at some point in time, a spotlight was even shone on us as we continued to dance with each other. However, it was too bad that our dance was ending. Yet, to end such a spectacular dance, it might be said to be customary to do so with a bang.

Now, don't misunderstand me here. If I'm to be perfectly honest, I do not know the exact steps and variation type of our dance. In fact, I'm not sure if this dance of ours is even a recognized variation of the tango and waltz. Instead, it was more likely that my brother came up with this variation all by himself.

It would seem that my brother's extraordinary talent in all types of academics and sports, areas in which I could never best my brother in, would extend towards dancing as well.

Of course, given the fact that I did not know the exact steps of this dance, I was mainly following my brother's lead as well as my own instincts.

Considering the fact that I was also currently intoxicated with my brother, it would perhaps not be surprising that I took the following actions.

As our dance came to an end, my brother moved closer to me.

His left arm hooked around my back and drew me closer to him.

My left arm also hooked around his back, drawing him closer to me.

His right hand smoothly moved to my neck and traced the part of the spine there upwards.

My right hand clenched his left shoulder tightly.

I lifted my head up, exposing my neck to him.

His face leaned in closer

and his lips moved,

placing a kiss on my neck.

I shuddered in pleasure as I closed my eyes in ecstasy.

Eventually, we let go of each other. As I reluctantly let go of him, I couldn't help but notice some reluctance on his part as well. This pleased me though why I felt this way remained unknown to me.

As my brother and I curtsied to each other, the dance hall was filled with thunderous applause. I kept my facial expression neutral but I was actually beaming on the inside. I had managed to salvage my image before it was irrevocable ruined before these people.

I turned around, away from my brother, only to see a familiar face in the distance.

It was Sakurai-san with a teasing expression on her face.

'Oh no.'

* * *

Well, this is my first chapter. This is a Tatsuya x harem fic, by the way. Oh, in case any of you are wondering, what Tatsuya did was that he reviewed the past information of the tuxedo, that is, when the tuxedo was still so magnificent, and then copied that before using this copy of past information to rewrite the current information of the tuxedo, whereby the tuxedo was a standard one. Please review.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Unraveling Secrets

Disclaimer: I do not own Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei or any of its vibrant characters

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(Miyuki's POV)

I opened my eyes blearily as I woke. Yesterday was truly tiring. Shortly after we had just reached Okinawa, I had to attend a party that extended all the way till midnight. However, just as I thought this, memories of the dance I had with Ani came to my mind.

His elegant dance.

His magnificent black tuxedo.

His seductive eyes.

His hands holding my waist.

His hands touching my back.

His kiss on my neck-

I shook my head furiously to clear it of such thoughts. I groaned slightly. Well, I couldn't get back to sleep now. Sigh…The sun did not even rise yet. Regardless, I have developed the habit of waking up before the sunrise anyway so no harm done. Well, except to my heart.

I slowly got out of my bed. Making my way to the window, I stretched and reached out my hand to move the shutters away. As I looked through the window, I was greeted with an unexpected sight.

My room was on the second floor. As such, I could see my brother and Sakurai-san facing each other in the wide backyard this house has. They appeared to be talking to each other. I strained my ears to hear their conversation.

"So, are you ready, Tatsuya?" Sakurai-san asked.

"Yes. Let's begin." Ani responded curtly.

What happened after that was a flurry of blows.

Sakurai-san ran towards Ani and jumped upwards before delivering a flying kick towards Ani's head. Ani simply adjusted his right hand, making it seem like he was about to form a karate chop, before hitting the incoming foot. Sakurai-san landed on the ground after that failed attack, grimacing slightly in pain, before sending a left hook towards Ani's face. Ani simply blocked the attack with his right hand again before launching himself towards Sakurai-san. His left hand holding onto Sakurai-san's right shoulder, his right knee went straight for Sakurai-san's solar plexus. Or it should have had Sakurai-san not pushed herself away in time.

Still, the blow grazed Sakurai-san's right ribs. However, that was not enough to stop her. She quickly went on to perform a leg tackle, her right leg sweeping across the floor. Ani quickly jumped up, avoiding the leg tackle, before sending a kick towards Sakurai-san.

Sakurai-san blocked the kick and quickly got up before sending a few more punches towards Ani, all of which he blocked. She then got in close, sending a fist towards Ani, which he caught, and then hooked her right foot around his before tripping him. Just as she wrenched her hand free from his grip (in order to avoid falling together with him), Ani's legs shot out, sending a kick towards her with both feet.

Sakurai-san quickly blocked it with both arms. Just before Ani hit the ground, his hands shot out, supporting him in the process. He used his hands to push himself off the ground. As he was rising, his right arm moved outwards to block a kick, courtesy of Sakurai-san. Sakurai-san then sent a punch towards him with her left fist. He blocked the attack before intercepting Sakurai-san's incoming right fist via grabbing her right wrist. He then twisted her right arm.

However, instead of applying pressure on her right shoulder so as to get her into a proper arm-lock position, he used his right palm and slammed it into the back of Sakurai-san's right shoulder. She winced in pain even as Ani used his left foot and slammed hard into Sakurai-san's right knee joints. He then moved his left fist and quickly hit the front of Sakurai-san's right shoulder. With her right knee joints being in a…less than optimal condition, that last blow managed to cause her to lose her balance and fall to the ground.

Ani straddled her before raising his right fist, as if he was about to finish things here. I gasped in horror and my hands flew to my mouth. At that point in time, I really wondered if Ani was really going to kill Sakurai-san. However, it appears that my fears were unfounded.

"Give up yet, Sakurai-san?" Ani asked out monotonously.

Sakurai-san cracked a grin on her face before sighing.

"Yeah yeah. I give." She let out with a resigned expression.

"Well, anyway, it looks like you beat me again. That was a good fight." Sakurai-san said happily.

"You were pretty good yourself." Ani offered, as if he was trying to console (?) her.

"Yeah right. You were holding back on me, weren't you?" Sakurai-san accused.

"Perhaps." Ani said, giving an ambiguous answer that neither confirmed nor denied the truth of her accusations.

Sakurai-san merely frowned before her expression became mischievous.

"Well, Tatsuya, perhaps you should get off me. After all, I know that you are only thirteen and thus may not really understand but this position is rather awkward." Sakurai-san teased.

I quickly realized the implication of her words as I looked over their position. Both of Ani's legs were straddling Sakurai-san's waist. His hands were now on the ground, each of which were besides Sakurai-san's head and his body was bent over her. It was a rather suggestive position, to say the least.

I flushed red. Yet, despite my embarrassment, and some other weird feeling I cannot quite identify, I couldn't close my eyes. I half-expected Ani to quickly get off her, stuttering out weak excuses even as his cheeks became red. However, to my surprise and further embarrassment, Ani replied with a

"There is no problem."

Seeing the bewildered look on Sakurai-san's face, he continued explaining as if he was without a care in the world.

"This was merely the result of our sparring match and nothing else. Other people's impressions have no bearing on my job as a Guardian especially since we are only going to be in Okinawa for a week."

was Ani's explanation.

A succinct explanation.

Complete with a monotone voice and an expressionless face.

Sakurai-san sighed tiredly with a resigned expression on her face before that mischievous look came upon her face again.

"Oh you. Come here!" Sakurai-san shouted out before her arms wrapped around Ani.

She pulled Ani down towards her before rolling over. Now, she was on top of Ani, her legs straddling his waist. Her head bent down towards his as she pressed their foreheads together.

My face became even redder.

"Geez. You just straddled a beautiful, single woman. Even if you are only thirteen, you could at least show some embarrassment." Sakurai-san whined.

"Well, I'm not sure about embarrassment. But, since I'm in this position, I might as well have some fun." Ani replied as a slightly mischievous look came on his face.

I was surprised.

So Ani could also make that kind of expression.

Ani quickly wrapped his own arms around Sakurai-san and rolled over. This time, their position was reversed, with Ani on top of her.

"I'm not going to lose!" Sakurai-san cried out before she rolled over again.

They continued rolling around on the ground, switching positions one after another. In the course of this, Sakurai-san was outright laughing, a happy expression on her face. To my surprise, Ani was chuckling slightly. Ani actually laughed! I think this is the first time I saw him laugh in the twelve years of my life.

Eventually, Sakurai-san came out on top. She was now straddling Ani (again) and smirked victoriously.

"Ha! I win!" Sakurai-san announced loudly.

"Well, I'm not too sure about that." Ani said and just as his arms reached out to wrap themselves around Sakurai-san again, a polite cough interrupted them.

* * *

"Ahem, I believe that is far enough." My mother, Shiba Miya, said in a curt tone.

A sheepish expression washed over Sakurai-san's face while Ani's face became emotionless. Sakurai-san quickly got off Ani and Ani got off the ground before standing upright.

"Well, Tatsuya. I see that you are having fun." My mother said curtly.

"Yes, madam. We had just finished our spar for the morning practice and we had some time left over. So, I took the liberty to have some 'fun', as you would put it." Ani responded back in an emotionless voice.

"If you had time for 'fun', you should have spent it looking after Miyuki." My mother said sharply.

I wanted to interject but I couldn't as I was afraid to draw attention to myself.

"There is no need to worry, madam. Miyuki ojou-sama is currently safe in her room. You should be aware that I possess the ability to determine her safety and actions at any point in time. Of course, that includes your safety as well, madam." Ani said.

"Oh, I didn't know you cared." My mother replied back with a haughty tone.

To talk to her own son like that!

Yet, what could I do?

What could I say?

After all, I have been treating him like a servant.

I didn't treat him nicely like a kind mistress would have.

Instead, I treated him as if he was a nuisance.

Ani bowed his head to mother.

"Madam, you are correct. To be frank, I personally do not care about your safety or well-being. My sole purpose is to protect Miyuki ojou-sama. You are irrelevant to me. The Yotsuba clan is irrelevant to me. I only consider your safety because, should you ever be hurt or killed, Miyuki ojou-sama would be sad. That is all." Ani said this with a matter-of-fact tone.

I let out a gasp at that.

That was the first time in twelve years that Ani actually expressed care for me.

Yet, why did this care not extend towards his own biological mother?

"True. Even if you are my biological son, this is the extent of our relationship." My mother said coldly.

"Correct. Even if you are my biological mother, that is all there is to our relationship." Ani replied back emotionlessly with his head still bowed.

My mother turned away and walked back into the house. As she was walking away, she gave out orders.

"Sakurai-san, go prepare some breakfast after you have washed up. Tatsuya, you should return to your charge." My mother ordered.

"Understood, madam." Ani and Sakurai-san both said.

Sakurai-san looked unsure of herself, as if she didn't quite know what to say to comfort Ani. Thus she started out with a safe

"Well, looks like fun's over."

"It seems so. But anyway, thank you, Sakurai-san, I had a lot of fun." Ani said with a small smile on his face.

As Sakurai-san started to walk back into the house, she suddenly stopped and grimaced in pain.

"Ouch." She let out.

"Are you alright, Sakurai-san?" Ani asked with slight concern in his tone.

"Ah, it's nothing. Just a leftover from the spar just now." She replied.

"Your left knee, is it? Allow me to fix it for you." Ani said as he brought his left hand out.

"Wait, Tatsuya. This kind of injury will heal in a few days. Don't worry about it."

Sakurai-san said with a reassuring expression on her face however that was of no use as Ani simply said two words.

"I insist."

She relented.

I sensed psions moving around. Sakurai-san's Eidos was being read. Now, light glowed from her knee.

After one second, the light faded. Sakurai-san moved her left knee around before taking a few steps with it. After seeing that her walking was fine, she tried jumping. Upon seeing that she could jump like normal, she grinned with a slightly guilty expression in her eyes.

"Good as new. Tatsuya, are you okay?" Sakurai-san asked.

"Yes, I'm fine." Ani replied, his monotone coming back.

"Well then, let's go." She said happily before she dragged Ani into the house with her.

I moved away from the window, unable to comprehend what I just saw. I let my back rest against the wall as I slid down to the ground.

Certainly, I knew about healing magic and could, to a certain extent, perform it as well.

However, Ani's healing magic was very much faster than that of ordinary magicians. It was practically instantaneous and, from the looks of Sakurai-san's current body condition, much too fast.

What actually happened was that Ani read the Eidos of Sakurai-san's body and then reviewed the catalogue of the information of Sakurai-san's physical state. Afterwards, he merely copied the information of her past body state, when her left knee was not hurt, and used a magic sequence and this information copy to rewrite the current information of her body such that her knee injury never existed.

Of course, I didn't know this at the time. As such, I was left wondering what had actually happened.

* * *

Well, thank you for your positive reviews. This is chapter 2! For those of you who haven't realized it yet, this is coming from the reminiscence arc of the light novel series. Please review.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The truth gets closer

Disclaimer: I do not own Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei or any of its vibrant characters

* * *

(Miyuki's POV)

I was lying on the mat that my brother had laid out on the beach while the umbrella that I was under provided some shade from the glaring hot sun. Certainly, it was very hot. I looked around the beach and saw many different groups of people gathered here.

There were groups of friends hanging out together, mostly teenagers and young adults. There were loners on the beach, just lying on the sand and enjoying a tan. Some were sitting near the sea and smiled blissfully as the waves washed over them lightly. Then, there were the family groups. While the kids were running around playing and building sandcastles, the adults were sitting under umbrellas set up on the beach watching over them.

Family.

What I have could hardly be called a family.

My mother, Sakurai-san and me. That was all that consisted of my family. My mother, who, while remaining strict, doted on me and brought me up. Sakurai-san, who despite not being blood related to me acted like my older sister. It also helped that she gave off an 'Onee-san' feel too.

My father never really took care of me. In truth, he was a distant figure who was practically forced to marry my mother.

My older brother, who despite being blood related to me, never actually acted like an oni-chan. He was a mysterious figure to me. He was my guardian, bound to me for the rest of his life unless I release him from his service. He was to be my tool, my servant, and to protect me with his life, even if it meant giving up his own.

He was a prodigy in all things. He excelled in academics, achieving the top of his level in both primary school and junior high. He was exceptionally fit, performing well in all manners of sports and had impressive fighting prowess. He was only lacking in magical ability.

Yet, it was because of this deficiency that he was not recognized as a Yotsuba member. It was because of this deficiency that he was forced to become merely a guardian.

If I didn't exist, he could probably have led a more normal life. Certainly, he would likely have been discarded and thrown out of the family but he would likely have been found by some government agency and taken into childcare services.

Even if it meant that he would be living in an orphanage, he would surely be able to become very successful given his abilities.

However, because of my very existence, he was trapped in a position of being a servant to a selfish, wilful master.

What does he think of me?

That question came to my mind.

The answer came immediately after.

He must surely hate me.

I started to tremble.

He did express his care for you, subtle as it was. My inner voice of reason chided me as memories of the conversation held between okaa-sama and Ani came to my mind.

The trembling stopped.

How unusual.

Just the thought of him caring for me was enough to put me at ease.

Yet, despite his care for me, he was still practically a stranger to me.

Wait.

My brother, the stranger, is sitting next to me as I lied down on the mat.

My brother, the stranger, had a pretty clear view of my whole body right now.

Which part of my body was he looking at right now?

My back?

My arms?

My legs?

My neck?

I suddenly felt very self-conscious as my face heated up.

I slowly glanced over at my brother.

My eyes met grey ones.

I froze as my face became even redder than before.

Ani looked at me for a few moments before turning his head and looking at the horizon.

Suddenly, he got up.

I froze in trepidation.

Then, I felt the parka being placed over me. It was neatly folded and it managed to cover up my upper body and most of my legs.

I felt a warm hand patting my head.

The heat and the warmth of the hand were starting to make me feel sleepy.

Ani leaned over me and whispered into my ear.

"Sleep."

I fell into slumber.

* * *

(Tatsuya's POV)

I slowly got up from the ground and stretched a bit. I cracked my neck and tightened my fists.

It was time.

The first attacker swung a knife at me.

Just before the knife reached me, I caught his knife hand with my left hand. I formed a fist in my right hand and sent it straight into the solar plexus of the attacker. The attacker blanched as he dropped his knife. Seizing hold of this opportunity, I twisted his left arm and punched the back of his head.

The attacker fell to the ground and collapsed.

The second and third attackers were already making their way here.

I ran to the side and sent a flying kick at one of the attackers. The second attacker blocked it and, just as I was landing onto the ground, sent a knife straight at me. I backhanded the hand holding the incoming knife, knocking it away in the process. The third attacker swung his knife at my neck but I merely ducked under it before launching myself onto the second attacker.

Both my legs shot out and hit the second attacker on both of his ribs. As my body felt the recoil arising from that kick, I used the momentum and launched myself at the third attacker. I backhanded the hand holding the knife before landing on the ground. I punched the front of his left shoulder and just as he counter-attacked with his right fist, I caught his upper right arm and stepped forward.

I then raised my right foot upwards before ruthlessly sending it down onto the back of his right knee joint. Upon hearing a satisfactory 'crack' sound and the subsequent groan of pain, I quickly kicked him towards the second attacker.

As the second attacker stumbled from the sudden weight launched (kicked) at him, I quickly dodged a knife coming at me from the back before initiating a leg tackle that took the fourth attacker down. I ran forward and jumped hard onto the solar plexus of the fourth attacker before sending a flying kick that knocked away the knife of the fifth attacker. I moved forward, intercepting his right fist in the process, and twisted his right arm before ruthlessly breaking it.

I then kicked him towards the incoming second and third attacker. As they quickly tried to catch the fifth attacker, I launched a flying kick that hit all three of their heads. To finish it off, I bent down and grabbed some sand before throwing it at their eyes. As they struggled to see, I ran forward and sent three quick shots at the back of their heads.

As the three crumbled onto the ground, I raised my right hand upwards to intercept an upwards swinging knife attack. My right hand caught the wrist of the sixth attacker and quickly twisted it. This time, I punched the back of his neck.

I think I had overdone it this time since I heard a 'crack' sound emerge from where his spine should be. However, I had no time to think about that as a knife came swinging by and slashed at my right arm.

Well, at least the blow wasn't life-threatening.

The seventh, and last attacker, stabbed his knife forward at me. I swung my left hand out and, just like a karate chop, 'chopped' at the arm that was holding the knife.

The bone cracked.

As the last attacker screamed in pain

and dropped his knife,

I moved forward

and my knee

went straight for his solar plexus.

His spine cracked from the blow.

The light faded from his eyes as he collapsed onto the ground.

I then raised my right hand and read the Eidos of these attackers' bodies and their knives.

I then decomposed the respective information structures.

Their bodies faded into nothingness.

Their blood disappeared from the ground.

Their weapons were completely gone.

As if they never existed in the first place.

I looked over at Miyuki and found that she was still sleeping.

I smiled.

Keep sleeping, my little sister.

Keep dreaming.

* * *

(Miyuki's POV)

I drearily opened my eyes.

As I turned my body around such that I was facing the umbrella, I glanced to the side and saw that Ani was still facing the horizon. The beach was now empty except for the two of us. Everyone else had left.

The sand had numerous footprints on it as if a great commotion had happened. I then asked Ani.

"How long have I been asleep for?"

"3 hours."

An exact answer that was delivered with no hesitation whatsoever. I frowned slightly at that. It was as if he wanted to head off any more questions from me. Certainly, our relationship was awkward at best but it was not like he ever treated me as a meddling person.

However, at that point in time, I was simply too tired to investigate any further.

"Let's head back." I said.

"Understood, ojou-sama." Ani replied.

I frowned again.

Why?

Why did he have to call me ojou-sama?

Even after he laid his parka over me and patted my head?

Even after he had just recently acted like a big brother to me when he had not done so for the twelve years of my life?

Why did he have to revert back to acting like a servant now?

As he continued to pack up, I saw a wound on his right arm. That was odd. He didn't have the wound before I slept so he must have gotten it while I was still asleep.

Just what had happened during those three hours?

I stepped forward and asked.

"What's wrong with your arm?"

"There is nothing wrong, ojou-sama." Ani replied curtly.

"I see."

"Come here." I ordered.

As Ani complied with my order, I impatiently moved forward and grabbed his right arm.

I gasped.

It was a very deep wound. Some of the blood vessels had been cut. At least the nerves were spared or my brother would have had to go to the hospital immediately.

While it looks like the bleeding had stopped, the wound was still serious enough to warrant immediate medical attention.

Why had my brother kept silent about this?

He certainly had more than enough medical knowledge, a prerequisite to becoming a guardian.

Therefore, he should have known that such a wound would require immediate medical attention.

Yet, he still kept silent about this!

"We are going to see a doctor." I said with a firm tone.

"There is no need for that, ojou-sama." Ani said emotionlessly.

I felt my rage explode but I held it down.

"Enough, Tatsuya." I said, using his name for the first time in order to warn him not to argue with me.

Not that it worked.

"But, ojou-sama-" Ani tried again.

I snapped.

My right hand moved.

Pah!

I slapped him.

I slapped my older brother.

Certainly, I know that my actions weren't really justified. My older brother had just received a serious wound on his right arm that required immediate medical attention. However, rather than receiving immediate medical attention, he got slapped instead. Slapped by his own little sister.

However, despite knowing that my actions were reprehensible, it wasn't logic that ruled my head right now. It was emotion.

"Just listen to me!" I yelled out.

"Miyuki! Just what are you doing!?" A person shouted out.

Eh?

That was a familiar voice.

Sakurai-san ran to our side and looked fiercely at me.

It was at that moment that I realized that she had seen the entire thing.

I couldn't say anything to defend myself.

After all, deep down inside of me, I knew that what I did was wrong.

As such, I could only wordlessly point at Ani's wound.

The fierce look on Sakurai-san's face quickly turned into shock as she caught sight of Ani's wound.

"Tatsuya, what happened!?" She gasped out.

"Just some trouble." Ani replied emotionlessly.

"And what exactly is this 'trouble'." Sakurai-san asked pointedly.

Ani stayed silent for a moment before letting out a sigh.

"While Miyuki was asleep, we were attacked by seven men with knives." Ani replied.

Sakurai-san and I both gasped.

"Then, why didn't you evacuate from the beach along with Miyuki?" Sakurai-san asked worriedly, with a slight reprimand in her tone.

"As I could have dealt with them within minutes, which I did, I did not want to disturb ojou-sama's rest. Thus, I did not wake her up." Ani said without hesitation.

Eh?

He fought to the point that he got injured just to avoid disturbing my nap?

Even when he could have just woke me up and evacuated with me?

"Well, what if they had guns!?" Sakurai-san asked with an agitated tone.

"I had confirmed the fact that they had no weapons other than knives before the fight. You should know that I have the ability to determine such things. They were most likely trying to kidnap rather than kill ojou-sama which would explain why they did not bring along more lethal weapons." Ani said.

Kidnap?

That word sent a chill down my spine.

Still, what ability was Ani talking about?

"I see." Sakurai-san said.

Eh!?

You're going to accept this so easily!?

Does Ani really possess such an ability!?

"Still, let's get you patched up." Sakurai-san said.

"Like I said earlier. There is no need for such a thing." Ani said with a tired expression on his face.

At this, I was about to interject. However, Ani's facial expression suddenly changed. His muscles tensed up. His expression became serious. His eyes became cold, much colder than usual, as they glowed faintly. The air around him changed. It became sharp and swift, cold and merciless.

I flinched.

Sakurai-san's expression morphed from one of confusion to one of alertness.

"What's the problem?" Sakurai-san asked quickly.

"Two missiles are headed towards us. A military helicopter is nearby. Most likely it was the one that fired the missiles." Ani replied quickly.

Sakurai-san grimaced. She held onto me with her right arm and said

"Quickly! We have to evacuate! Now!" Sakurai-san urged.

"There is not enough time for that." Ani replied.

I saw the missiles coming closer to us at an incredible speed. My expression became one of panic. However, Ani's expression remained the same as always. Apathetic.

He raised his right hand towards the missiles.

'You do know that without a CAD, such actions are useless, right!?'

'At the very least, you are still a magician, right!?'

were my thoughts.

I quickly looked to Sakurai-san for help. Surely she, as a guardian and magician with more experience than my foolish brother would be able to do something.

However, in an instant, my brother invoked magic.

Ani read the Eidos of the missiles. He then activated the magic sequence which would decompose the information structures of certain components of the missiles.

was what actually happened.

However, to my ignorant self at the time, all I knew was that Ani invoked magic which caused the missiles to disintegrate as the remnants of the missiles fell into the sea.

Ani stretched out his right arm.

Light glowed from his right arm and a second later, it was as good as new.

Psions congregated around his right arm.

A second later,

silver flames appeared on it.

The flames quickly grew in size and intensity.

Some of the flames then quickly left his arm

and was sent flying towards the military helicopter in the distance.

The silver flames,

though small compared to the overall size of the helicopter,

travelled at an incredible speed.

The silver flames spread around the entire helicopter

and the helicopter disappeared

with only a few of its components falling into the sea.

I was stunned speechless.

What was that?!

Certainly, I knew that my brother could use the strongest form of anti-magic, Gram Demolition.

I also recently learnt that he had incredible healing magic (at the time, I did not know that it was his reconstruction ability.)

However, this form of magic went beyond all that. The only thing that I could 'sense' was that the information structures of the missiles and helicopter was destroyed.

This left a question hanging in my mind.

Ani, just what are you?

* * *

Well, here's chapter 3! Please review!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: A line crossed

Disclaimer: I do not own Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei or any of its vibrant characters

* * *

(Miyuki's POV)

As the cool breeze blew through the room, I closed my eyes slightly in comfort. I then straightened my back and opened my eyes. Now was not the time to get distracted. I refocused my attention on the man currently sitting on the sofa in front of us.

Captain Kazama Harunobu.

Shortly after the last 'incident', the Coast Guard, which was much too slow in responding to the attack, went to ask us to give them our statements on what happened despite our exhaustion, much to the consternation of Sakurai-san.

We merely told the Coast Guard that we were already tired and that if they wished to ask us any questions, they could just come to our residence in Okinawa. Well, Sakurai-san was still mad at them for "failing so miserably in their job!" Ani and mother were both apathetic about the whole incident (I suppose that is one similarity between them) while I genuinely did not know enough about the entire incident to be of any real use as an information source.

"So, you really do not know the motive of the attackers?" Captain Kazama asked again for the umpteenth time.

"No!" Sakurai-san snapped.

After all, his question, which had already been repeated countless times, contained the implicit accusation (?) that we had provoked the attackers.

"Captain Kazama, with all due respect, we truly do not know the motive of the attackers." Ani said, having finally spoken up on the subject.

"I find that hard to believe, um, Tatsuya-kun? After all, I heard that you were the one who dealt with those missiles and that military helicopter. Quite impressive, even for a magician, especially at such a young age." Captain Kazama said skeptically.

"I was merely dealing with a threat. However, correct me if I'm wrong but if the Coast Guard had done its job properly, we would not have been exposed to such danger, right?" Ani asked frostily.

"True." Captain Kazama conceded but he then pressed on.

"However, given your abilities, is it not possible that they may have some link to what was going on at the beach?"

How dare he!?

Is he insinuating that Ani, and by extension the rest of us, were connected to or were perhaps even responsible for that attack?

The nerve of this man!

"Are you insinuating that we were responsible for the attack!?" Sakurai-san screeched, finally having lost her temper.

"Well, I- " Captain Kazama tried to say but he was cut off by Ani.

"Like we have said earlier. We have no idea what the attackers' true motives are. We do not know how they are related to us and finally, my abilities have no bearing on this current situation." Ani said coldly.

"Still-" Captain Kazama tried again but this time he was cut off not by Ani but by okaa-sama.

"Captain Kazama. It's getting late. Carrying on will be pointless so let's end this for today." My mother said with a tone of finality.

Having recognized the air of dismissal around my mother, Captain Kazama finally gave in.

"Very well. Let's end this for today. Thank you very much for all your assistance." Captain Kazama said as he bowed to us before he turned around and headed for the door.

"Tatsuya, Miyuki, send our guest out." Okaa-sama ordered.

"Yes."

"Understood."

We replied though Ani's answer was obviously the latter.

As we sent the captain on his way to the door, we were greeted by one of his subordinates.

"Captain." He said loudly as he saluted his superior.

"Lance Corporal Higaki." Captain Kazama said as he nodded in acknowledgment of his subordinate.

The lance corporal then turned to face us before his expression became one of shock.

"You are- " Lance Corporal Higaki stated but he was cut off by an "Ah. We meet again." from Ani.

The captain's eyes widened slightly in surprise but he quickly reined in his expression.

"I see. So you are the one who defeated my subordinate that day." Captain Kazama stated with an "Ah" expression on his face.

I tensed, ready for the impending conflict.

However, it would appear that my worry was unnecessary.

The captain merely turned around to face us before bowing to use deeply, much to my surprise.

"I apologize for my subordinate's rude behavior the other day! As his superior, his poor conduct reflects badly on me as well!" Captain Kazama apologized loudly.

Upon seeing the odd sight of seeing his superior bow to two children and apologizing on his behalf, Lance Corporal Higaki was stunned for a moment before he quickly snapped out of it and followed his superior's lead.

"I apologize for my reprehensible behavior the other day! Please! Accept my apology!" The lance corporal cried out.

"Ah, well, I accept so please raise your heads." Ani said as an embarrassed expression came onto his face.

So, Ani could also make expressions like this too?

However, he was still being far more expressive with these antagonists (?) compared to with okaa-sama and me, his biological family.

My heart felt a dull ache.

This scenario was just another indictment of how distant Ani is from the family.

And the worst part of it all was that it was mostly the family's fault as well.

Both okaa-sama and I were at fault.

We treated Ani like a servant.

We treated him like a tool, to be discarded if necessary.

As a result, the family drifted apart.

I shook my head to clear it of such thoughts. I vaguely noticed that Ani had been talking to the two of them for quite some time now and I tried to listen in on their conversation.

"So, Tatsuya-kun, if you have some time, come visit the Onna base here. I will even get one of my subordinates to show you around." Captain Kazama offered.

"Thank you very much for the offer. I will seriously consider it." Ani replied back politely.

"Think nothing of it. It's the least that I can do after all that has happened." Captain Kazama said cheerily as he turned around and waved his hand to say goodbye to us.

As we watched the lance corporal follow after the captain hurriedly, Ani turned to face me and said.

"Let's return back."

"Yes." I replied.

* * *

"Hmm, this wouldn't do." Okaa-sama mused.

"Indeed. In this weather, even shopping would be…difficult." Sakurai-san said.

Right now, grey clouds were slowly gathering in the sky as the wind speed was gradually but steadily increasing. It seems that a tropical storm was approaching from the Eastern sea. By the time it reaches here, it would not have the strength of a typhoon but it would come pretty close.

"So then, okaa-sama, what shall we do for today?" I asked my mother politely.

Okaa-sama pondered for a while as she considered my question. Meanwhile, Sakurai-san was busy cutting the freshly baked bread that she had just obtained at the nearby bakery. She carefully cut the bread into four pieces, two of which were larger than the others. She then applied some butter onto all four pieces of toast on both sides. She moved to the kitchen table and prepared two cups of green tea along with two cups of strong, dark coffee.

After bringing the four cups to the table, she took two large pieces of toast and placed them on two separate plates before laying them on the table in front of okaa-sama and I. She then put the two tea cups in front of me and okaa-sama. She took a small piece of toast for herself before passing the other small piece of toast to Ani.

Right now, only okaa-sama and I were sitting at the table. Ani and Sakurai-san were standing beside me and okaa-sama respectively. Based on tradition, servants, such as them, were not allowed to sit at the same table as their masters.

Even Ani, despite being related to me and okaa-sama by blood, had to stand instead of sit at the same table as us.

This was yet another indictment of how the Yotsuba treats their guardians.

A bodyguard protects his or her master so as to earn a monetary reward.

In other words, a bodyguard protects to eat.

However, a guardian is different.

A guardian eats to protect.

Bound to their masters until they are released from their service, either by the master's will or death, a guardian is provided with whatever is required to protect his or her master.

Given that guardians have to make such a huge personal sacrifice for their masters, usually for little to no personal gain, one would think that the Yotsuba would treat their guardians a little better. This is especially since guardians are tasked with protecting their masters' lives and are considerably dangerous as well.

However, the Yotsuba, to my eternal shame, generally treats their guardians rather horribly. Yotsuba guardians are never thanked for their services. They receive no breaks or benefits. They receive no salary, though they are given a considerable allowance to live on but given the dangers that they have to face, that kind of money was not lucrative but instead necessary in unknown and dangerous situations. If they ever had children or family of their own, their masters' lives would take priority over those of their families.

Ah, don't misunderstand me here.

Okaa-sama doesn't treat her own guardian, Sakurai-san, horribly. They have a good working relationship characterized by mutual respect and trust. My aunt, Yotsuba Maya, also known as the 'Demon Lord of the Far East', also treats her guardian, Hayama-san, who is also her butler, quite well.

Instead, it is me who, like the rest of our family, does not treat my own guardian well. I'm at least self-conscious enough to know that I have been very selfish and mean to Ani.

It is only now when I was in Okinawa that I started to think of treating Ani, my guardian, a little better.

The lesson that I should treat my guardian better would be one that I would learn on this trip.

However, by the time I learnt it, it would have been far too late.

* * *

"How about we go see a Ryuukyuu dance?"

To my mother who was still pondering over what we shall do today, Sakurai-san made this suggestion.

Saying so, Sakurai-san turned on the wall mounted display. Deftly operating the handheld remote, she brought up a guide on Ryuukyuu performances.

"It also appears that you can try on the costumes themselves." Sakurai-san added.

"Looks interesting. What do you think, Miyuki?" Okaa-sama said, intrigued.

As I was considering this, Sakurai-san interjected.

"Well, the problem is that it is at 3pm. It is only 10am right now."

That meant that we had to find something else to fill in the gap of five hours.

"I have an idea. How about we try the yukatas we bought the other day?" Sakurai-san suggested.

"I like the idea." I announced and mother nodded in agreement.

However, first, we had to finish our breakfast.

Looking at the different sizes of our toasts, I couldn't help but sigh sadly at the fact that the 'superiority' that the position of the master had over the position of the guardian was exhibited even in the sizes of the toast that we got.

Okaa-sama looked up from her toast and stared silently at Ani for a moment before turning her head away.

"Tatsuya, come here." Okaa-sama ordered.

"Yes, madam." Ani replied before moving towards our mother.

Okaa-sama took away Ani's small sized toast before replacing it with her own large sized one.

Eh?

"Tatsuya, I cannot finish such a large piece of toast by myself. Finish it for me. I will take the small sized toast for myself instead." Okaa-sama stated (ordered).

Huh?

"Understood." Ani said as he bowed towards okaa-sama.

Wait, what?

He then proceeded to silently eat his toast by okaa-sama's side while okaa-sama focused solely on finishing her small sized piece of toast.

Was that her way of showing concern for Ani? Just like how a mother would naturally want to give a larger portion of food to her child even if that meant that she had to be content with having a smaller portion of food for herself?

Sakurai-san looked stunned for a moment but a smile slowly formed on her face even as she covered it up by bringing her coffee cup to her mouth and drinking from it.

* * *

"Miyuki, stay still." Okaa-sama ordered as she tried to tie the obi over my yukata properly.

As okaa-sama went about her work, I stood still and waited patiently. After a while, okaa-sama moved away from me before bringing me to a mirror.

My yukata was white with beautiful patterns of blue lining over it while okaa-sama wore a simple black yukata which highlighted her womanly curves.

"Do you think Sakurai-san is done yet, okaa-sama?" I asked my mother as I turned around to face her.

"Hmm…she should be. I wonder why she was so insistent on bringing Tatsuya along with her, though." My mother queried as a look of confusion appeared on her face.

If I remembered correctly, Sakurai-san was indeed acting a bit unusual.

* * *

(Flashback)

"Ah, madam. Could you let me borrow Tatsuya-kun for a while?" Sakurai-san asked.

"Hmm…what for?" Okaa-sama queried.

"It's a surprise, madam. So please let me borrow him while both Miyuki-sama and you are trying out your yukatas." Sakurai-san said.

"I see. Very well. Go ahead."

was my mother's reply.

* * *

"Madam, are you done changing? May I come in now?" Sakurai-san asked from outside the room.

"Yes. We're done changing. Come in." My mother replied.

As Sakurai-san came in, I took notice of Sakurai-san's yukata. Her yukata was light blue with some patterns of light grey lining over it.

"Madam, I have prepared a surprise." Sakurai-san said as a mischievous expression came over her face.

Huh?

That was odd.

Sakurai-san only directed those types of expressions to me and Ani.

Certainly, it was not like okaa-sama never saw those types of expressions on Sakurai-san's face.

However, Sakurai-san never directed that type of expression to okaa-sama before, at least from what I know.

Okaa-sama's expression became uneasy.

"I introduce to you all! Shiba-chan!" Sakurai-san announced with an overly dramatic tone as she pushed open the door to reveal a beautiful girl.

The girl had long black hair that extended all the way to her upper back. Her fingers were long and elegant. Her posture was straight and proper. She had a slender build and was taller than me. Her face was, while not very attractive, still subtly alluring and her eyes.

Her beautiful, grey eyes.

Wait a minute.

Grey eyes?

Beautiful, grey eyes?

It can't be!

"Ani?" I asked carefully.

At that, Sakurai-san just burst into laughter as she held her stomach while okaa-sama uncharacteristically looked away from the 'girl' before looking back at 'her' and then looking away again.

An embarrassed look could now be seen in Ani's usually emotionless eyes.

"Sakurai-san, what is this?" Okaa-sama asked carefully while looking a little uncomfortable and awkward.

"Well, the Ryuukyuu dance could only be attended by females and I didn't want to leave Tatsuya-kun alone so I decided to dress him up as a girl. I then named him 'Shiba-chan' to avoid confusing him with Miyuki-chan." Sakurai-san explained between fits of laughter.

"I see."

was all okaa-sama managed to say.

"Since no one can actually distinguish him from an actual girl, let's take him to the Ryuukyuu dance together with us!" Sakurai-san exclaimed excitedly.

"No."

was okaa-sama's flat rejection.

"Please, madam!"

was Sakurai-san's plea.

* * *

After failing to convince okaa-sama, Sakurai-san finally gave up. Surprisingly, okaa-sama actually allowed Sakurai-san to persist in her efforts for as long as she did. I suppose that this was yet another advantage of having a good working relationship.

After Sakurai-san left the room, okaa-sama told me to "take responsibility for my guardian" and "end his torment" before following after Sakurai-san.

After I closed the door and locked it, I stepped forward and faced Ani. I was about to fulfil my responsibility (?) and dress my guardian up in decent clothing when it finally struck me.

I was alone with Ani in the room right now.

I was going to undress Ani all by myself right now.

With no one else around to see it except for Ani.

I suddenly felt very nervous.

My cheeks heated up.

The blood started to rush to my head.

As such,

when I stepped in closer to Ani,

I tripped.

As expected, Ani quickly caught me with his arms.

However, as I looked up, I was met with Ani's face.

The beautiful face of a girl yet it was also the face of my Ani.

As he tried to stand me upright, his arms tightened around my waist.

As his right hand came up to grab my left shoulder, he unknowingly (?) tightened his hold over me.

My arms instinctively wrapped around his waist.

My body melted into his.

I was, once again, lost in his beautiful, grey eyes.

Wait a minute!

Something is wrong!

This is a girl that I'm embracing!

My inner self screamed to me.

I'm straight!

I do not swing that way!

My inner self continued to say (scream) to me.

He is a boy, remember? My inner voice of reason interjected.

Ah…

I cannot take it anymore.

My right hand moved to cup the side of his face

and I brought his face closer to mine.

My body moved forward

and my eyes closed

as my lips

gently

met his.

* * *

Well, that's chapter 4! Thanks for the positive reviews so far! Please review!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Match

Disclaimer: I do not own Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei or any of its vibrant characters

* * *

Sergeant Toguchi.

A man of medium build looking to be in his late twenties or early thirties.

He was a magician working in the Onna Airforce base.

He was also the type of person whose boxing skills were on the nationals level.

This was the man who was to be my brother's opponent in this match.

As the sergeant moved forward in small increments, his toes sliding across the floor, he raised his fists and assumed a boxing stance. His eyes sharp and focused, he had a serious expression on his face as he prepared to fight my brother.

In contrast, Ani merely stood there without assuming a stance. His expression remained neutral as he faced his opponent.

Yet, his eyes were cold.

Captain Kazama looked at both individuals seriously before calling for the start of the match.

"Start!"

Sergeant Toguchi rushed forward as he sent his right fist towards Ani's face. Ani simply blocked the incoming fist with his left hand. The sergeant then lashed out with a few more punches using his right fist.

Ani blocked all of them and during that period, the sergeant launched his left fist at Ani. Ani then backhanded the sergeant's left wrist, diverting the shot in the process while impeding the sergeant's movement of his left hand. The sergeant quickly counter-attacked with a kick from his right foot.

Surprisingly, Ani simply moved forward as his left arm swung violently against the sergeant's right leg. As the sergeant lowered his right leg in pain, Ani jumped before his right foot shot out and hit the sergeant's solar plexus. The sergeant was sent a few steps backwards but he quickly recovered before he sent his right fist at Ani.

Before the blow landed, Ani caught the sergeant's right wrist with his left hand before extending his right hand to catch the left wrist of the sergeant's fast approaching left fist. He then twisted both of the sergeant's hands such that the sergeant's palms were facing the ceiling.

Again, he moved forward. However, this time he raised his right foot upwards before mercilessly slamming it at the back of the sergeant's right knee joints. The blow to the sergeant's already weakened right leg caused the sergeant to nearly fall to the ground on one knee.

Though the sergeant did not actually fall to the ground on one knee, Ani did not waste the opportunity this opening provided. As the sergeant was still distracted by the pain in his right leg and by the near loss of balance, Ani quickly moved to the back of the sergeant.

His fists raised, Ani quickly assumed a boxing stance. Ani then sent a right fist at the back of the sergeant's head, knocking him out in the process.

As the sergeant collapsed onto the ground, Captain Kazama held his hand out and announced the end of the match.

"This match is over!"

"The winner is Tatsuya-kun!"

"Total time taken for the match is…"

As everyone tensed in anticipation, I held my breath.

"forty seconds!"

only to let go of it in utter disbelief.

Forty seconds. That was all it took for Ani, who was only thirteen years old, to defeat a full-fledged military magician with top-tier boxing skills.

As my mind tried to wrap itself over this ridiculous fact, sighs of admiration could be heard coming from the crowd that had gathered to watch the fight.

The crowd was mostly made up of the military magicians who were undergoing training exercises in the same hall.

"Unbelievable…is he really thirteen?" Lieutenant Sanada breathed out.

Captain Kazama was also speechless.

As the sergeant gradually regained consciousness, Ani got down on one knee and offered a hand to him.

"That was a good match. You are certainly an opponent to be reckoned with." Ani complimented.

The sergeant seemed a little uneasy (?) at first before a smile appeared on his face as he accepted Ani's help.

As the sergeant got up, he bowed in respect to Ani who, in return, bowed back to him.

Mutual respect between opponents.

Certainly, this scene was the very embodiment of such a principle.

As the crowd started to clap, I could not help but think that I had made the right decision in choosing to visit the base alongside Ani.

* * *

I could have gone to see the Ryuukyuu dance.

However, I could not help but feel curiosity about Ani's true abilities.

Based on the information that I initially had regarding his abilities, I knew that Ani performed exceptionally well in all manner of academic and sports activities. I also knew that he was considered a prodigy in fighting. Furthermore, I knew that he possessed the strongest form of anti-magic, Gram Demolition.

However, from what I learnt so far on this trip, Ani also possessed incredible healing magic and an ability to destroy (?) information sequences.

That was certainly I did not know before the trip.

Then, this begs the question.

What other abilities did Ani possess?

Or to be more specific,

What is the true extent of his abilities?

As such, I persuaded okaa-sama and Sakurai-san to allow me to visit the base along with Ani under the pretext of "understanding more about the abilities of my guardian, which is one of the responsibilities of a Mistress."

As I once again witnessed Ani accomplish something that was thought to be improbable, or indeed, impossible, I recalled Sakurai-san's words.

* * *

(Flashback)

"Hey Miyuki, can we have a talk?" Sakurai-san asked as she leaned against the door of my room.

"Yes. Come in." I replied simply.

As Sakurai-san came into the room, I closed the door behind her before sitting on the bed while Sakurai-san sat on a nearby chair.

An expression of unease appeared on Sakurai-san's face as she seemed to struggle to find the right words to say.

"Sakurai-san, please. Feel free to say anything you want. There is no need to hold back." I said as I tried to ease her discomfort.

It would seem my words were sufficient to accomplish this, though.

"Ahem…very well. Let's start." Sakurai-san said as she cleared her voice.

I automatically straightened my posture as I prepared for the conversation ahead.

"Miyuki. I saw what happened on the beach before the missile attack occurred. You know, when you…struck Tatsuya." Sakurai-san started.

My face stiffened as my hands clenched into fists.

"I understand that my actions at that time were…reprehensible. Certainly, I was the one at fault since I unreasonably lost my temper and unfairly struck Ani." I said with an uneasy tone.

"I see. Well, um, that's good! Er…while a guardian is the servant of the master, or mistress in this case, establishing a good working relationship between both parties would be for the best." Sakurai-san said as her posture visibly relaxed.

"Thank you for your kind advice." I said as I bowed my head to her.

"Ah…there's no need to bow your head, Miyuki. It's not like I can't understand your frustration with Tatsuya-kun." Sakurai-san stated.

At those words, I looked up at her in interest.

An understanding look came upon Sakurai-san's face as she continued on.

"You see, one of Tatsuya's faults is that he does not show enough concern for his own well-being. As long as something does not interfere with his duties as a guardian, he tends not to pay it any mind. That's why when your relatives insult him, he merely just ignores them." Sakurai-san said.

I nodded as I tried to process this information about Ani.

If Sakurai-san's reasoning was correct, which it probably was, that would explain why Ani never showed so much as a reaction even when our relatives insult or demean him.

"Well, if an obstacle appears and prevents him from performing his duties, he would mercilessly annihilate it." Sakurai-san said casually.

I felt a chill go down my spine.

Since this was Ani, such a thing was probably true.

After all, he was the type of person who could easily wipe out two missiles and a military helicopter within less than a minute.

"Still, even for a guardian, Tatsuya is special. He has some…unique abilities and he can be very dangerous when he wants to. In fact, should I ever have to face him as an enemy, I would probably die within seconds."

At this blunt admission from Sakurai-san, I could only hang my mouth slightly open in shock.

Sakurai-san was considered one of the most powerful guardians of the Yotsuba family. If what she said was true, that meant that Ani was easily one of the most deadly magicians that the Yotsuba has in its arsenal.

"However, you must always remember one thing, Miyuki. The one Tatsuya-kun is loyal to is not Miya-sama, Maya-sama or the Yotsuba family. In fact, if Miya-sama and Maya-sama, and thus, by extension, the Yotsuba family became Tatsuya-kun's enemy, he would not hesitate to do away with them, blood ties be damned." Sakurai-san warned me as I nodded in apprehension.

"The one that Tatsuya-kun is loyal to is you." Sakurai-san continued.

"That's why you must never let him go. For if you do, he might one day become the enemy of the Yotsuba clan. If that happens, Tatsuya-kun may not be the one losing in the end."

"That's why, Miyuki, you must always remember!"

"You must never let him go."

* * *

"Start!"

As Captain Kazama's voice rang out to signal the start of the second round, I was jolted out of my reminiscing and quickly refocused my entire attention on the match.

As Corporal Haebaru (I think) jumped up, he lashed out with his right foot and aimed at my brother's face. Ani simply moved to the side in order to avoid the blow before letting loose a series of punches at the corporal. However, the corporal was able to defend against the flurry of punches sent his way before launching his right fist at Ani.

Ani raised his fists to his eye-level before letting lose his right fist onto the front of the corporal's right elbow joint. The corporal simply counter-attacked with a spinning kick which Ani ducked under. As Ani rose up, he tried to uppercut the corporal with his right fist but the corporal jumped behind so as to avoid the uppercut. The corporal then sent a few punches at Ani, which Ani blocked, before performing a leg tackle.

As the corporal's right leg swept across the floor, Ani jumped over it before kicking his right foot forward. The corporal quickly blocked the kick with his right wrist before standing up. The corporal then rushed forward as he tried to place his hands on Ani's shoulders before kneeing Ani in the gut.

However, that failed as Ani simply hit both the offending hands away before twisting his body slightly to the side. As the corporal's knee moved forward, Ani's right knee shot upwards and hit the muscles of the upper right leg of the corporal. Ani then grabbed the corporal's left arm and twisted it before kneeing the corporal in the ribs.

As the corporal bent down in pain, Ani swept his right leg across the floor, knocking the vulnerable corporal (whose right leg was not in the best condition) to the ground. Ani then bent down quickly before grabbing the corporal's left arm and twisting it while his knee rested on the corporal's neck.

"Enough! This match is over!"

"This match is Tatsuya-kun's win!"

Captain Kazama announced.

* * *

"Incredible…the match was over within a minute."

"Yeah…Haebaru really wasn't holding anything back yet he was still defeated so quickly."

"Those fighting skills are top-notch! That kid is a genius!"

"If he could use weapons as well as he can fight, he would be a very tough opponent."

"Do you think you can beat him if you tried?"

"As if! Haebaru was one of the strongest in the unit and he was still defeated so easily! I don't want to die yet."

were the murmurs coming from the crowd as they gushed over my brother's skills.

As the corporal and my brother bowed to each other, Captain Kazama called out to my brother.

"Well well, Tatsuya-kun. Your fighting ability is amazing!" The captain complimented.

"Thank you very much for your compliment, Kazama-san." Ani replied.

"However…Toguchi and Haebaru are some of the strongest in this unit. To have them both defeated in the same day, it will stain this unit's honor. So how about it, Tatsuya-kun? Will you consent to one more match?"

What was this man saying!?

He was the one who invited Ani to participate in the match and now that his men lost, he was claiming that his unit's honor was being stained!?

The request to fight one more match was unreasonable!

Yet, to my shock, Ani agreed to it.

"Very well. I agree. Who will be my opponent?"

As Captain Kazama was about to answer him, someone called out from the side.

"Captain! Please, let me face him!" Lance Corporal Higaki requested.

It was the bad soldier from before!

The captain frowned before replying.

"Lance Corporal Higaki. I'm afraid that if this has to do with your revenge, I cannot agree to it."

To such an objection, the bad soldier merely answered in the negative.

"It's not revenge, captain!"

Intrigued, the captain raised an eyebrow before asking.

"Oh? If it's not revenge then what is it?"

"It's vindication, sir!"

came the shameless reply of the lance corporal.

What the!?

There are the exact same thing!

This man is merely trying to get revenge for his loss earlier in the trip.

"There is no problem with having this man as my opponent, captain." Ani stated with an emotionless tone.

"Oh?" The captain asked in interest before dismissing his own question.

"Well, Tatsuya-kun has agreed to it so there is no problem at all."

"Let the match start!"

* * *

Lance Corporal Higaki's body seemed to swell for a moment before it was launched at a great speed towards Ani. Ani quickly leaped backwards to dodge the incoming blow. As he landed, he rolled onto the floor to dodge yet another quick blow from the lance corporal.

My breath hitched.

That was self-acceleration magic!

I turned toward the captain as I lashed out.

"Using magic?! Isn't that utterly cowardly?!"

However, before the captain could even begin to defend himself, my brother shouted out.

"Enough, Miyuki!"

I was stunned.

That was the first time Ani called me 'Miyuki.'

That was the first time Ani rebuked me.

That was the first time Ani clearly showed some kind of will to me.

"There was never a rule forbidding the use of magic."

Ani flatly asserted so.

As the lance corporal continued to use his extremely fast attacks against Ani, Ani simply dodged them seemingly with ease.

Just before the lance corporal accelerated, he would first set the coordinates of the location that he wanted to travel to. However, it was at this point that Ani adjusted his position by jumping back or forward, or moving to the right or left side.

By doing so, Ani was able to 'easily' dodge the accelerated attacks 'just in time'.

As Ani was backed up to the wall, the lance corporal accelerated forward and sent his fist flying. However, just as the lance corporal was setting the coordinates, Ani jumped to side. Thus, he was able to dodge the incoming fist which hit the wall instead.

As the lance corporal decelerated and lightly shook his fist in pain, Ani cocked his right arm backwards.

When the lance corporal turned around and tried to activate his self-acceleration magic again, an incredible amount of psions rapidly gathered at Ani's right fist.

As light radiated from Ani's right fist,

his right fist moved forward

and hit his opponent directly on the chest.

An enormous amount of psions

was sent raging against the lance corporal.

Gram Demolition.

A type of anti-magic that used psion pressure to blow away magic sequences.

As the lance corporal's magic sequence was forcibly destroyed,

the severe backlash to the lance corporal's mind was intense.

Intense enough to directly affect the lance corporal's balance.

With the lance corporal's balance destroyed,

the strong blow to his chest

was enough to knock him off his feet.

* * *

As the lance corporal slowly regained consciousness, he blinked a few times before trying to get off the ground. Ani then bent down and offered a hand to him.

"You fought well. I didn't expect you to use self-acceleration magic at all."

The lance corporal wordlessly accepted Ani's help before a smile made its way on his face.

"You too. I admit defeat. My loss the other day was not due to carelessness. I am satisfied."

As the lance corporal placed his arm over my brother's shoulder, he teasingly spoke to Ani.

"You know, even if you are only thirteen, you are actually quite cool. Do you have a girlfriend yet?"

I stiffened.

I do not know why but the thought of Ani having a girlfriend caused my heart to feel a dull pain.

"I do not." Ani replied.

As the lance corporal's expression morphed into one of disappointment, Ani added.

"However, I have already received my first kiss."

I froze.

Lance Corporal Higaki's expression became mischievous as he questioned my brother.

"Well, was she pretty?"

"Yes, she was very beautiful."

I flushed several different shades of red as my heart beat accelerated.

Nii, Nii-san!

Stop teasing me already!

Especially since I was the one who initiated the kiss in the first place!

"Oh? Did you enjoy it?" Lance Corporal Higaki further questioned.

My brother's tone became seductive as he replied:

"Yes, she was very delicious."

I blacked out.

* * *

Chapter 5 is finally complete! Hooray!

As you can see, Miyuki still does not know the full extent of Tatsuya's ability. However, she is starting to gain more insight into it. The truth will soon be revealed.

Please review!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Approaching departure

Disclaimer: I do not own Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei or any of its vibrant characters

* * *

(Miyuki's POV)

As I groggily opened my eyes, I had to resist the strong urge to close them again as I felt a bright light quickly enter my eyes. I moved my fingers around as I let my eyes slowly adjust to the bright light before slowly getting up from the bed.

Wait.

Bed?

Why was I on a bed?

"I see that you have awakened. Are you feeling alright, ojou-sama?"

a familiar voice asked of me.

I quickly whipped my head around only to see that Ani was standing next to the bed that I was lying on. As I stared at him in shock, my brain processes were going back to their normal mode. I quickly pushed myself against the wall as my face flushed red.

"I see that you are still a little disoriented. Would you like me to provide you with a summary of what happened?" Ani asked.

As I slowly nodded my head, Ani started to speak.

"After you fainted in the training hall, I quickly excused myself and carried you home. As Madam and Sakurai-san weren't home yet, I decided to bring you to my room. While I considered leaving you in your room, I decided that it would be best if you rested in my room instead as I would be better able to take care of you here."

Huh?

Better able to take care of me?

Why not my room then?

Why would he be better able to take care of me in his own room?

As I looked around his room, the reason to my unspoken question started to dawn on me. His room was unusual for someone his age. At the right side of his room, there was a small kitchen with stoves and other kitchen-related furniture like fridges. At the left side of his room, there was a workshop that looked (too) similar to a CAD development lab. There was also a large bookshelf at the center of his room. This bookshelf contained books that were university-level or higher. I probably would not have been able to understand them but if it was that person, it might be possible for him to understand them.

I cleared my throat before I gave my response.

"I see."

It was a short and brief response but I couldn't think of anything else to say.

After all, I couldn't exactly say:

'If you didn't tease me earlier, I wouldn't have fainted.'

Regarding that kiss we shared, I ordered Ani not to tell others about it. However, as Ani did not specify who it was that took his first kiss (!), I couldn't exactly have started berating him over it.

Even now, I do not know why I kissed him.

My feelings are still a mess.

"Ojou-sama, I will prepare something for you to eat." Ani said as he turned towards the kitchen area.

As I watched Ani prepare the food, I couldn't help but marvel (silently, of course) over how proficient my brother seemed at cooking. Ani quickly filled up a clean pot with water before placing on the stove and turning it on. As the water was being heated up, he poured some uncooked noodles into the pot so as to soak the noodles. He then took out two pieces of frozen salmon before laying it onto a board to let them dry. Taking out some parsley, garlic and other spices, he started cutting them to small pieces carefully but efficiently. The salmon had quickly thawed due to the heat in the kitchen and Ani proceeded to cut them into six small pieces. Ani then took out a frying pan, placed a little olive oil on it before he lightly fried the vegetables and salmon. As he was frying the salmon and vegetables, he took out the cooked noodles. With the vegetables and salmon fried, he started to lightly fry the noodles after having added a bit more oil to the frying pan. As he was lightly frying the noodles, he added some of the vegetables and spices to the noodles. Once he had completed his task, he placed the noodles onto a plate before carefully laying the six pieces of salmon on them.

He proceeded to prepare some tea by hand, not by using tea bags but by using the tea leaves directly.

He then bought the plate, tea cup and other utensils to a small table next to the bed before bowing to me.

"Ojou-sama, tonight's dinner is aglio olio with salmon. Your green tea is also ready."

Ah…so it was this late already.

I didn't notice it.

But, now was not the time to focus on such things.

I slowly brought my hands to the utensils before holding them. Twirling the noodles around my fork, I brought the fork to my mouth before having a taste of it.

Exquisite.

Wonderful.

Divine.

Were the only words I could use to describe it.

I quickly went on to try a piece of the salmon before closing my eyes as I appreciated the heavenly taste of the salmon.

The salmon piece still retained the original taste of fried salmon but it also tasted a bit like the spices used in this dish. It must have been because some of the spices must have gotten onto the salmon piece that I had just eaten.

As I continued to dig in happily, I decided that I had to show my appreciation to Ani who had prepared this meal for me. Ani had never cooked once for me and (based on my knowledge) okaa-sama. Usually, it was the HAR or Sakurai-san who prepared our meals for us.

This was the very first meal Ani had prepared for me.

However, as I turned my head to express my appreciation to Ani, I was disappointed to see him already being back in the kitchen rather than staying by my side. I shook my head to clear it of such thoughts as I just focused on eating my meal.

As soon as I finished, Ani moved forward and slightly pushed the plate aside before passing me a napkin. I took the napkin and wiped my mouth but as I was doing so, Ani was already putting a small plate in front of me.

It was a green cake, made up of four different layers, two light green layers of cake sandwiching a small, dark green layer of cream. On the very top of the cake was a layer of green cream that was neither light nor dark.

"I have prepared a green tea cake for your dessert. It should go well with your green tea, ojou-sama." Ani said curtly.

As I prepared to interject and say that I had already finished my green tea, which was impeccable as always, Ani was already refilling my tea cup.

I dismissed my futile attempt before I tried the green tea cake.

As the strong taste of green tea burst in my mouth, my eyes widened and I started to slowly savor the delicious cake. I then took a sip of green tea which did go well with the cake. While I was still slowly eating my cake, Ani was already bringing the plates and utensils to the kitchen and had started cleaning up. He had done so quite efficiently since by the time I finished my tea and cake, Ani had already finished cleaning up.

As Ani went to collect my small plate and tea cup, I stiffened my resolve and complimented Ani.

"You are quite a good cook."

"Thank you for your kind praise, ojou-sama." Ani replied, courteous as ever.

As Ani started to clean my cup and plate, I further complimented him without giving it much thought.

"A man who can cook. You would make a good husband."

Ani froze as his hand remained holding the cloth that was used to clean the plate.

A moment later, I, too, froze as I realized what I had just said.

"Ah-Don't worry about what I said. I was…um…joking. That's right! I was joking! There's no need to take what I said seriously."

I said as I tried to defend myself.

"Do not worry about it. I actually feel a bit happy about the compliment, ojou-sama. After all, I do intend to get married in the future." Ani said as a slightly embarrassed expression made its way onto his face.

At that last statement, I could only remain silent in shock.

Get married, he said.

To who?

Why?

Why does my heart feel such pain?

Why does my heart feel such sadness?

"I see. Um…I should return to my room already." I said as I made my way to get up from the bed and to the door.

As I opened the door, my mouth moved on its own and asked Ani a question.

"Did you ever regret the kiss that I…forced upon you?" I asked quietly.

Why I asked that question,

I do not know.

But regardless,

I felt that I needed to know his answer.

"No, ojou-sama. I was happy about it." Ani replied immediately.

My back still turned towards him, a small smile made its way onto my face as I slowly exited the room and closed the door.

* * *

(Tatsuya's POV)

As my sister left the room, I slowly let out a sigh as I proceeded to lock the door.

I walked over to the laptop at the right section of my room before taking a seat on a nearby chair.

As I looked over the data that I was gathering, I nodded in satisfaction since the data collection was complete and accurate. I took out a thumbdrive and started to transfer the data from the laptop to the thumbdrive before I proceeded to delete all the data that was present in the laptop's hard disk.

This was a laptop that I bought with my own personal money. As I was able to defeat my opponents, with a level of ease that was considered impossible even for the best of the Yotsuba guardians, I was able to save up quite a bit of my considerable allowance.

I also had earned quite some income from selling financial and account management software and website services over the net. Thus, I was able to easily afford this high performance laptop. Other than its high performance, the best thing about it was that it was free from only monitoring bugs that the Yotsuba would have placed on other devices provided to the Yotsuba guardians.

As I ejected the thumbdrive from the laptop and shut down the laptop, I looked over the thumbdrive and frowned.

All the data that I needed was in this thumbdrive. Data regarding the management and development of my account management and financial software as well as data regarding CAD development were all kept in this thumbdrive along with the final piece of information I was trying to obtain.

Information about the location of the illegal money laundering centres in Japan.

Everything has already been prepared.

Soon, all conditions would be cleared.

The time of my departure was fast approaching.

However, my thoughts were cut off as I heard the sirens that started blaring across the island.

* * *

Well then, this is chapter 6! Please review!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Final duty

Disclaimer: I do not own Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei or any of its vibrant characters

* * *

As Ani and I ran through the forest, both of us holding hands, the sounds of gunfire and motar fire could be heard resounding through the island. Even so, we did not stop running. After all, the further away we got from the unknown enemies, the safer we would be.

I panted for breath as I tried to keep up with my brother's pace, which I was already starting to lag behind. I gripped his hands tighter as I pushed my body to its limits. However, even as the physical exhaustion started to wear down on my body, my worries about Sakurai-san and okaa-sama started to wear down on my mind.

Even till now, we still had not found them. After all, it was not as though we had the time to do so. Almost immediately after the sirens started ringing throughout the island, Ani had already burst into my room and dragged me out of it. After I got over my initial shock, I attempted to resist him but he merely ignored it before carrying me out of the house, bridal style.

The resulting embarrassment (on my part, Ani did not seem to have been affected by it one bit) silenced me for a moment, giving Ani the chance to explain the situation to me. Apparently, enemies of unknown nationality were attacking Okinawa along with other parts of Japan. They had brought in tanks, mechanized infantry, some air support and magicians. How he knew this, I do not know. However, the one thing that was certain to me right now was that we were in severe danger. As such, as my guardian, Ani immediately went to secure my safety and proceeded to evacuate me.

He did not evacuate me using the traditional civilian evacuation routes established by the military and the government. Instead, he evacuated me through a nearby forest. A convenient fact was the our Okinawa residence was located at quite a bit of distance from the main city and that it was also near an uninhabited forest not used by the military, government or corporations on this island. Furthermore, the forest was not near the opponents' landing sites (according to Ani) and they were facing the other main islands of Japan. Therefore, the likelihood of the forest being involved in the conflict was rather low.

As I tripped over a rock, I was caught by Ani just before I fell to the ground. Ani then bent downwards and said:

"Ojou-sama! Hurry! Get on my back!"

My face became red as I stuttered in response.

"W-Wait! What do you mean "Get on my back!" Tha-That would be too embarrassing!"

"Ojou-sama! Please! We have no time!" Ani responded.

"Ugh…"

* * *

Ani quickly ran through the forest with me on his back. The speed that he was running at was much faster than the previous time. It was this fact that made me realize that Ani was actually slowing his own pace just now so as to enable to me keep up with him. I felt a bit shameful at that but I quickly dismissed it, opting to focus on more important matters.

"Ani, where are Sakurai-san and okaa-sama?" I asked him.

Ani hesitated for a moment before answering.

"I do not know, ojou-sama. I apologize." Ani replied.

At this reply, my face fell.

"However…I may have an idea of where they are." Ani added.

Immediately, my hopes rose.

"Where are they?" I pressed, completely ignoring the fact that Ani just said that he only had an idea, and not a confirmation, of where they were.

Ani slowed to a stop before letting me down.

"This is just my guess but…considering Miya-sama's influence and the likely intervention of the Yotsuba family to save her...it is likely that Miya-sama and Sakurai-san managed to get into a safehouse for civilians on the island. This safehouse is probably a military base since this island originally did not have much ordinary safehouses. Furthermore, a military base is likely to be safer than a normal civilian safehouse so it is more likely that they were moved there since there would be soldiers to protect them in a military base." Ani speculated.

"Very well. Take me there." I ordered.

The reply came immediately after.

"No."

His answer stunned me. This was the first time that Ani had ever disobeyed an order from me, whether it is a direct or indirect order. I had expected Ani to have immediately replied in the affirmative and go along with my selfish request. At most, I expected him to try and (politely) persuade me to not pursue such a dangerous option.

"Ojou-sama, while you are my Mistress, the fact remains that I'm your guardian. My main priority is your protection and this means that I will do whatever it takes to secure it, even if it means disobeying a direct order from you." Ani explained, calmly and without distress in his voice.

Why?

Why was he able to speak so calmly?

Why was he able to remain so rational, so apathetic even when hearing that his biological mother and friend (Sakurai-san) was in danger?

Did he really not care for okaa-sama, his biological mother?

"Why? Why?! How can you continue to act like this, to be so emotionless even when hearing that mother and Sakurai-san are in danger?" I demanded.

I saw him wince slightly at the mention of Sakurai-san but he quickly schooled his expression as he remained speaking in a calm voice.

"I'm your guardian and that duty is above all other things." Ani replied straightforwardly.

I clenched my teeth as my hands curled up into fists.

"Then, if that is the case, I do not want you as my guardian! Shiba Tatsuya, I release you from your service. From this day, no from this moment forth, you are no longer my guardian!" I shouted.

Ani froze, completely stunned.

He remained speechless for about a full minute and I saw some hurt in his eyes.

"Very well. As I'm no longer your guardian, I no longer have the right to take you away from here, even if it is for your own safety.

Ani said emotionlessly.

I withheld the pain in my heart as I turned around, feeling disappointed at how easily Ani had accepted his dismissal.

Why?

Why does my heart have to feel such pain?

However, I quickly turned around when Ani's next words reached me, surprise evident in my expression.

"I'm no longer your guardian. In that case, as your brother, I shall perform my duty to you for the very last time. I shall help you find Sakurai-san and madam."

* * *

"Okaa-sama! Sakurai-san!" I cried out in happiness as I ran towards them.

"Miyuki?!" Both of them cried out.

After Ani agreed to help me find Sakurai-san and okaa-sama, he closed his eyes for about thirty seconds as he used his 'Elemental Sight' to read the information about the 'objects' on this island and thus easily locating okaa-sama and Sakurai-san.

Of course, I did not know that he possessed such a rare skill at that time so I only thought that he closed his eyes so that he could focus on finding out where Sakurai-san and okaa-sama via the process of eliminating other possible options.

Indeed, Ani had been right. They were taking refuge in a military base, courtesy of Aunt Maya, and there were even in the main control room, a privilege no doubt granted to them due to the Yotsuba family having pulled some strings.

"Miyuki! Where have you been?! I've been so worried!" Okaa-sama cried out uncharacteristically.

It was rare for okaa-sama to lose her cool, especially when we were in public, so she must have been very worried about me.

I felt my heart warm a little at that.

As Sakurai-san worriedly looked me over and checked if I had any injuries, Ani was in the middle of a conversation with Captain Kazama and Lieutenant Sanada.

"So, Captain Kazama, Lieutenant Sanada, what do you think? Will you agree to my request?" Ani asked.

"Well, it's true that you would be a big help to us. You did defeat the strongest in the unit, after all but…I feel that you are a little too young for this…" Lieutenant Sanada said.

"…Before I give you my answer, I want to ask some questions of you, Tatsuya-kun." Captain Kazama said.

"Certainly. I have no problems with that." Ani replied curtly.

"Captain?!" Lieutenant Sanada cried out, seemingly scandalized by what he was hearing.

"Why are you trying to do this? Your family is safe so I doubt that it has something to revenge, unless the enemy had killed your friends, of course. I briefly considered that it might have something to do with national pride but somehow that seems a bit off. Then Tatsuya-kun," Captain Kazama stated, his expression serious.

"For what reason do you have to fight?"

I gasped when I heard the word 'fight'.

Ani was going to fight?

Fight who?

The enemy that was attacking us?

The enemy that had tanks, mechanized infantry, magicians and air support?

If that is the case, then why?

Why would he go and fight them?

Why would he risk his life to do so?

Revenge?

No.

Ani did not have any close friends here and he did not have close bonds with his 'family' either.

National pride?

No.

Ani did not care about things like sovereignty or national honor.

If that is the case, then-

"Why?"

"Why are you going to fight?"

I asked, with a hint of desperation in my voice.

"The reason is very simple."

Ani said as he turned towards us.

"Father, please come in here." Ani stated.

To everyone's surprise with the exception of Ani, Chichi entered the main control room.

He had a slight frown on his face since Ani had never called him 'father' even once. For Chichi's part, he only considered Ani as a servant as well so Ani calling him father was considered rude and overly close in his perspective. However, as we were in public, it was not as if he could rebuke Ani, his own biological son, for calling him 'father'.

Ani then kneeled with one knee on the ground and his head bowed.

Not to me. Not to okaa-sama or Sakurai-san or Chichi

But to all of us.

"I am the biological son of Shiba Tatsurou and Shiba Miya. I am also the biological brother of Shiba Miyuki and I was taken care of by Sakurai-san when I was young."

"The reason that I'm going to fight is very simple."

"Today, for the very last time, I shall fulfill my duty to all of you as your son and brother."

"So please, watch me."

"During this battle, I shall fight the soldiers of the Great Asian Alliance."

"I may either achieve victory and perish in battle."

"However, should I win, all of you will be safe."

"That's why, until this battle ends, please watch me and only me."

All of us stood in stunned silence, not just the family and Sakurai-san but Captain Kazama, Lieutenant Sanada and the rest of the soldiers in the main control room as well.

"Very well. In this battle, you shall be the only one in my eyes. I shall watch this battle to the very end." Okaa-sama replied.

"I will watch you till the very end as well, Tatsuya-kun." Sakurai-san said as well.

"I will watch too." Chichi said.

I could only stand there in silence as Ani waited for my reply.

However, I was too shocked to make a proper reply.

An understanding but slightly sad look entered Ani's eyes as he got his knee off the ground and proceeded to make his way out of the base while Captain Kazama and Lieutenant Sanada quickly followed him out.

At this point in time, even if they had objected to him joining the battle, Ani would still have proceeded to do so anyway. After all, both of them knew, and all the military officers gathered in this room probably knew as well, that Ani was the one who defeated the strongest in Captain Kazama's unit, which apparently was already considered quite strong among all the units in Okinawa.

Ani was also the one who eliminated two missiles and a military helicopter within a short period of time via using unknown magic.

Sometimes, the fear of the unknown was greater than that of an overpowering enemy.

As such, it was doubtful if Ani could be stopped by Captain Kazama and Lieutenant Sanada, even if they had worked together to take him down.

Therefore, there was only one option available to them.

Ani was going to war,

whether they liked it or not.

* * *

As Ani's figure came onto the screen, my hands tensed in anticipation.

Ani's arms extended to both sides as he closed his eyes.

As psions gathered around him, Ani's outfit began to change.

His short-sleeved black polo shirt and short black pants were gone.

They were instead replaced by long black pants, a long-sleeved shirt along with a long black jacket that extended all the way to the middle of Ani's upper legs.

It looked as if some light body armor was also incorporated into his new outfit yet the way it was incorporated into the outfit seemed so seamless that one would not be able to tell at first glance.

Ani then said one word:

"Release."

Suddenly,

a staggering amount of photons gathered around Ani.

Those were not photons.

They were highly active psions.

A light strong enough to sear the eyes

radiated from his body

as it shone throughout the island.

The conqueror had arrived

and he was ready

to unleash destruction.

* * *

Well, that's chapter 7. Please review!


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: True strength

Disclaimer: I do not own Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei or any of its vibrant characters

* * *

(Miyuki's POV)

A lone male ran across the battlefield, both hands outstretched as his figure radiated with bright light. Any enemies that approached him disappeared as they faded into nothingness. Regardless of whether they were in the form of a tank, plane, helicopter or simply as a foot soldier, they simply disappeared, as if they never existed in the first place.

It was as if an invisible field had formed around that figure, making any and all enemies within it disappear. Even the bullets, missiles and artillery shells that streaked across the sky to attack him disappeared.

Simply put, that figure was unstoppable.

That figure was my brother, Shiba Tatsuya.

* * *

(Tatsuya's POV)

After breaking through the enemy lines with ease, I stopped. I closed my eyes as I focused on decomposing any and all projectiles launched against me. While I was doing this, I activated my 'Elemental Sight' to read the information structures of all the 'objects' around me.

The concepts of distance and time do not apply in the information dimension. Therefore, via the use of 'Elemental Sight', I could theoretically analyze the information structures of anything in the world, regardless of our distance from each other. (Well, if the physical distance between me and the 'object' was closer, it does help me focus better…).

As I slowly analyzed the information structures of the 'objects' around me, I searched for information structures that belonged to the drones of the Great Asian Alliance.

In this day and age, drones were mainly used by militaries around the world for two purposes. The first is to give armies the ability to silently observe and gather intelligence via a remote-controlled, unmanned aerial vehicle. The second purpose is to give armies the ability to conduct aerial strikes from any part of the world.

In this case, the drones were mainly being used for observation purposes.

After detecting about 60 drones, I set them as my targets for decomposition. I raised my right hand into the sky and activated my natural decomposition magic.

With my limiter, Miyuki, limiting my powers, I can only decompose 36 targets simultaneously. Under constant fire, I can only decompose 24 targets simultaneously. However, I have already forsaken the restraints placed upon me by my limiter, therefore my abilities have drastically increased.

Now, decomposing 60 targets poses no challenge to me, even if I'm under constant fire from my enemies.

As I activated my decomposition magic, the information structures of the drones were being quickly eroded away. Soon, their information structures were no more.

Events were accompanied by information.

Therefore, altering information can change events.

Similarly, destroying information can eliminate events.

As the very act of an 'object' existing in the world can be considered an event,

destroying the information structure of the 'object'

will make it seem as if the 'object' never existed.

As such, after I decomposed the information structures of the drones, they faded into nothingness, as if they never existed in the first place.

With the elimination of the drones, the enemy's intelligence gathering and aerial strike capabilities must have been severely reduced.

This should already have been enough to start turning the tide of battle.

However, I was not yet satisfied.

* * *

(Miyuki's POV)

As I saw my brother raise his right hand to the sky, all of the enemy drones suddenly disappeared.

Yet, despite accomplishing this great feat, he still seemed unsatisfied.

He then ran forward (again) and infiltrated even deeper into enemy lines. As he did so, silver flames started to form around his entire body. Unlike the last time, the silver flames did not merely just form around him. This time, they were raging all around his body.

Yet, he did not seem to feel any pain. Instead, he even seemed to be enjoying it, given the almost satisfied look on his face. Then, he did something incredible.

He flew.

* * *

(Tatsuya's POV)

The act of gravitational force acting upon one's body was also considered an event.

Therefore, by decomposing the information structure of the current gravitational force acting upon my body, I can temporarily 'eliminate' the gravitational force acting upon me.

In other words, right now, the concept of gravity temporarily does not apply to me.

Without gravitational force being applied onto me, I managed to leap an incredible distance into the air. While I was doing so, I focused my 'sight' on a few air particles at the sole of my combat boots and decomposed them directly into energy. As such, the energy released exerted a force against the sole of my boots, propelling me further into the air in the process.

This, in turn, gives rise to the illusion that I was 'flying'.

Well, technically, I really was flying.

As I flew into the air at top speed, I was approached by hostile enemy air crafts.

Military fighter planes and helicopters surrounded me in a bid to protect their bombers (which had poor defensive capabilities against enemy aircrafts specialized in air combat).

Futile.

I released my flames and they started to form four large 'beams' which flew in all directions. Every time a 'beam' reached an area with a large number of enemy aircrafts, it would quickly shrink in size as the flames dispersed over a wide area and got caught onto the enemy aircrafts.

The silver flames would then quickly spread around the entire body of the enemy aircraft, decomposing its information structure as well as those of the enemy personnel within the aircraft.

After the 'beams' shrunk, they would quickly increase in size to reach their original size again.

This allowed me to use this specialized attack over and over again.

The enemy was using a lot of aircrafts over a relatively small area, Okinawa Island. Therefore, it could be said that there was a high density of enemy aircraft within the area.

Hence, there were a lot of aircrafts that were hit by the silver flames and thus were consequently decomposed.

First minute.

10 fighter planes, 2 helicopters and 0 bombers decomposed.

Second minute.

15 fighter planes, 3 helicopters and 4 bombers decomposed.

Third minute.

16 fighter planes, 6 helicopters and 10 bombers decomposed.

Fourth minute.

18 fighter planes, 8 helicopters and 15 bombers decomposed.

Fifth minute.

20 fighter planes, 10 helicopters and 20 bombers decomposed.

Within five minutes, a total of 79 fighter planes, 29 helicopters and 49 bombers were decomposed.

In short, the enemy air force was almost completely decimated by the silver flames.

Time to finish off their air force once and for all.

I stopped the beams and focused on making the flames gather around my body to form a large 'fireball' with my body at the center.

A moment later, an incredible amount of smaller 'fireballs' was released from the large one as they hit the enemy ships.

The silver flames quickly spread around the enemy ships, decomposing the very information structures of these ships and the enemy personnel operating them.

The enemy naval force was almost completely decimated, well, to be specific, their destroyers and other long range, mid-range and short range combat ships were destroyed.

However, their destruction was merely a side benefit that I had gained from unleashing my cruel attack. What I was specifically aiming for was the destruction of the enemy carriers and the remaining enemy aircraft that were still receiving repair and refueling on them.

With the destruction of these remaining enemy aircrafts, the enemy air force was now completely and utterly decimated.

However, my work was not done yet.

While the enemy air force was completely decimated, the enemy naval force was not (though they were actually pretty close to being completely annihilated).

After all, the enemy still had submarines.

As the enemy submarines began their hasty retreat, abandoning any and all forms of resistance they could have shown, I focused my 'sight' on them.

20 enemy submarines detected.

I then decomposed them.

As their very information structures were being decomposed, their bodies faded into nothingness alongside the enemy personnel operating within them.

Now, the enemy naval force was completely annihilated.

That just left the enemy land force to contend with.

* * *

(Miyuki's POV)

"Radar is detecting no enemy hostiles in the air. Destruction of entire enemy air force confirmed!" A voice cried out in the military control room.

"Sonar is detecting no enemy ships and submarines. Destruction of entire enemy naval force confirmed!" Another voice cried out a minute later.

Incredible, in just a short time, Ani had already completely destroyed the enemy air and naval forces.

Not even the enemy submarines were spared.

Even the enemy personnel operating the enemy aircrafts and ships were destroyed.

Now, only the enemy land force remained.

However, the fact that Ani had not attacked the enemy land force yet does not mean that the enemy land force was not having a hard time. With the enemy's air and naval forces destroyed, the enemy land force had lost critical naval artillery and air support. This left them highly vulnerable to aerial strikes from Japan's own air force. Furthermore, with most of the enemy's supplies, ammunitions and reinforcements on the ships, the enemy ships' destruction meant that all these supplies and reinforcements were permanently gone. It also meant that the enemy land force's escape route was forcibly cut off as well.

The elimination of the drones also caused the enemy to lose its intelligence gathering ability, which was also needed to determine the map of the area for their own forces whom were unfamiliar with this territory. Without this ability, the enemy was essentially fighting blind.

As Japan's bombers unleased destruction from the sky and Okinawa's land force rallied and fought back against the enemy with renewed vigor, the enemy land force was slowly but surely being annihilated. Therefore, even without further help from Ani, the enemy land force would surely have been taken out as well.

However, it seems as though Ani was not yet satisfied despite all the destruction that he had wrought.

After Ani landed on the ground,

he ran up a small hill

and jumped down.

While he was falling,

an incredible amount of psions

gathered around

his entire body

as silver-white 'wings' of light

appeared from his back.

As he landed, the silver-white 'wings' spread out over a large area

and the resulting wind

blew some dust particles off the ground.

Ani then extended his right hand out

as a silver-white 'blade' of light

extended

from the front of his right wrist.

He then flew but maintained only a short distance from the ground as he moved towards the enemy land units.

As he flew, his large 'wings' would 'hit' and then pass through the enemy land units.

Tanks, armored vehicles, soldiers and magicians.

All of them would, without exception, disappear as the silver-white 'wings' passed through them.

As his 'wings' destroyed(?) any enemy it passed through, Ani swung his right hand down and the silver-white 'blade' cleanly sliced right through a nearby enemy tank. However, as the tank exploded, the flying remains did not cause Ani any harm as Ani eliminated them faster than they could even reach him.

Ani then landed on the ground, right in the middle of an artillery regiment.

Like well-trained soldiers, they immediately turned their assault rifles towards Ani's postion. However, Ani simply spun around on the spot and his large 'wings' spun around with him, causing all enemy artillery units within a wide area to disappear in a second.

As a result, a large segment of the enemy artillery regiment was wiped out.

Ani then flew at top speed towards the enemy tank squads engaging Japan's forces. As his wings passed through and eliminated entire tank squads, he swung his right hand down several times, cleaving tanks and even soldiers into half seemingly with ease.

While Japan's Okinawa forces finished off what was left of the enemy artillery and tank units, Ani landed in front of several enemy soldiers and magicians.

His silver-white 'wings' shrunk in size until they could only just envelop his entire body while he let his right hand fall to the ground, the tip of his 'sword' touching the ground.

Pure arrogance.

Under normal circumstances, the act of landing directly in front of several enemy soldiers and magicians could only be considered as an act of arrogance and stupidity.

However, the current situation was not normal.

In fact, the current situation was far from normal.

Right now, the enemy soldiers and magicians were facing Ani, who had just decimated their entire naval and air forces as well as a significant portion of their land forces all by himself.

As such, the enemy should be feeling fear instead.

However, their expressions did not show fear.

Instead, they even seemed slightly excited (?).

After all,

by looking into my brother's eyes,

one would clearly be able to see

the glint of a challenge.

In response to this defiant (?) challenge,

the enemy's fighting spirit was roused

and the enemy soldiers and magicians

charged forward.

When he saw this, Ani merely smiled.

* * *

(Tatsuya's POV)

As the enemy soldiers raised their assault rifles at me, the enemy magicians prepared to use deceleration magic on me in order to slow down my movements and thus give their comrades the opportunity to successfully kill me.

However, I merely used my 'sight' to analyze the information structures of the 'objects' around me.

500 soldiers and 50 magicians.

I then used my natural decomposition magic and set my targets for decomposition to be, neither the activation sequences nor the magic sequences of the enemy magicians, but the windpipes and gullets of all 50 of the enemy magicians.

As the enemy magicians collapsed to the ground with blood gushing out of their mouths, they naturally lost focus on activating their magic and thus their magic sequences were cancelled in the process.

As a result, their magic failed to activate.

During this period, the enemy soldiers had already started firing upon me however I was unhurt as all enemy projectiles, regardless of whether they were bullets, missiles or greenades, were completely decomposed before they could even reach me, courtesy of my natural decomposition magic at work.

Now that the enemy magicians were taken care of, I had managed to eliminate the threat that their magic could have caused me. As such, I could now take on the enemy soldiers without worry.

Seeing all of their magicians suddenly collapse onto the ground with blood gushing out of their mouths had definitely caused a severe fall in the morale of the enemy soldiers as the enemy soldiers, frightened as they were of the current situation, had faltered in their constant firing at me.

That was a mistake.

Using their temporary distraction to my advantage, I ran forward before swinging my right hand down and cutting an enemy soldier vertically into half. I then moved towards an enemy on my left, continuing towards that soldier's position even as bullets were sent flying towards me. However, as they seemed touch me, they disappeared into nothingness. As my body 'crashed' into and passed through the assault rifle, the assault rifle became dust which fell onto the ground. I then 'crashed' straight into the enemy soldier's body before passing through it, the body becoming dust which also fell onto the ground.

As I approached yet another enemy, I did a leg tackle, my leg passing through his own as they, too, became dust before I got up and struck my 'blade' of light into the enemy's head.

As I slowly got up, I saw many more enemies facing me.

I raised my 'blade' into the air such that its tip reached my eye-level.

This was done so in challenge to the enemies before me.

They responded.

* * *

As I raised my 'blade' in challenge, the enemy soldiers ran forward.

Three squads of enemy soldiers formed up and one squad attacked me from the front, another from my right flank and the last one from my left flank. As they brandished assault rifles and machine guns, they kept firing at me. In the meantime, using my 'sight', I detected two squads of enemy soldiers forming up from behind the newly formed enemy formation and they all whipped out their combat knives, ready to charge in when the moment comes.

I simply bent my 'wings' forward, decomposing every bullet fired at me as they 'hit' my 'wings' before I enlarged my 'wings', swinging them to both my right and left sides in wide, hemispherical arc.

As a result, all three squads that were closing in on me were wiped out in an instant. However, it was at this moment that hand grenades were thrown at me.

I simply bent down, using my 'sight' to analyze the information structures of the grenades being thrown at me before I used my natural decomposition magic to decompose all of them before they could explode.

With my knees bent, I swiftly turned my position around as I swept one of my 'wings' over the two squads (who were already charging at me with their knives drawn) in a wide arc, decomposing their bodies' very information structures as their bodies faded into nothingness.

103 enemy soldiers dead.

397 enemy soldiers left.

I then temporarily decomposed the information structure of the 'event' of gravity acting upon me and, using my Elemental Sight, decomposed a few air particles, at the sole of my combat boots, into energy. This propelled me high into the air and as the energy behind the boost ran out, I 'floated' in the air for a split second before I stopped my temporary 'removal' of gravity.

I then fell to the ground. However, just before I reached the ground, I lifted both my legs up as I temporarily 'removed' gravity again. This allowed me to float in the air for yet another split second before I extended both my legs to the ground and stopped my 'removal' of gravity.

As I landed on the ground, I realized that I was in the middle of the enemy's loose 'formation' as I moved forward to stab my 'blade' through an enemy soldier's back. As I removed my 'blade' from the person's back, I ducked as bullets flew straight through where my upper body had been before I swung my 'blade' upwards, slicing through an assault rifle. I then moved forward and stabbed my 'blade' into the neck of the enemy.

As I removed my 'blade', yet another enemy tried to attack me, this time with a combat knife. However, before the knife could even reach me, I had already sliced through his upper arm, part of which came off, before I swung my 'blade' in a horizontal manner, slicing the enemy's body into two, the upper body falling off the lower one.

I then ran forward. As three enemy soldiers brandished their guns on me, I ran to the right side before suddenly turning left as I swung my 'blade', slicing off one of their assault rifles as I directly 'crashed' into and passed through the enemy soldier now holding the inoperable rifle, decomposing his entire body in the process as it faded into dust.

I then jumped into the air before launching a mid-air kick at the second soldier. However, this soldier seemed to be a bit more resourceful than the other one as he lifted his assault rifle to take the hit. In other words, he sacrificed his assault rifle, which faded into nothingness, to my decomposition magic-based kick as he took the chance to draw out his combat knife.

Once I landed onto the ground, he swung his combat knife downwards at me. However, I merely swung my right hand and my 'blade' sliced through his wrist, causing him to lose both his hand and knife. I then stepped forward before my 'blade' thrust out, stabbing him through the chest.

As I withdrew the 'blade' from his chest, the third soldier swung his knife at me. I met the attack with my own 'blade' and as our 'blades' collided, my 'blade' easily cutting through his as it decomposed its way through the metal of the enemy's knife.

The soldier immediately dropped to the ground as he tried to perform a leg tackle on me. However, I merely jumped forward and as the enemy soldier got up from his failed attempt, I swung my 'blade' at his neck, cutting his head off in the process.

I then enlarged my 'wings' and spun on the spot, my 'wings' spinning around with me as well in a wide circular arc as it passed through and decomposed the enemy soldiers from the middle of their formation (?).

Consequently, a large amount of enemy soldiers were wiped out, with the middle of the 'formation' being completely empty except for me.

5 enemy soldiers killed via the use of my 'blade'.

280 enemy soldiers more wiped out.

388 enemy soldiers were killed in total.

112 enemy soldiers remain.

The right and left flanks of the previous 'formation' were also heavily damaged, with fifty seven soldiers remaining in the enemy right flank while fifty five soldiers remained in the enemy left flank despite the former presence of one hundred soldiers at each flank.

After I used my 'sight' to analyze the information structures of the bodies of the fifty five enemy soldiers on the enemy left flank, I used my natural decomposition magic to decompose all of these information structures.

Consequently, the bodies of these fifty five enemy soldiers faded into nothingness, as if they never existed in the first place.

I then flew towards the right flank of the previous enemy 'formation' and as my 'wings' passed through the enemy soldiers' bodies, their bodies faded into nothingness.

After I had wiped out about twenty of the remaining fifty seven enemy soldiers on their previous right flank, I used my natural decomposition magic to decompose another 36 enemy soldiers.

499 enemy soldiers dead.

1 enemy soldier left.

As I landed in front of the last enemy soldier, whom, judging by the state of his uniform was probably the commander-in-charge of the right flank of the previous enemy 'formation', he firmly stood his ground and glared at me.

I simply asked him one final question:

"Shall we?"

* * *

(Miyuki's POV)

As Ani faced an enemy soldier, whom seemed to be a high-ranking military officer, he briefly spoke to the soldier and hostilities between them quickly resumed.

As the soldier raised a machine gun and fired at Ani, Ani leaped high into the sky before he swung one of his 'wings' down, the tip of it smashing into the ground and just narrowly missing the enemy soldier who had quickly rolled out of the way.

Ani then adjusted his position in mid-air, bending his upper body forward and as he descended, he swung his 'blade' down.

Once again, the enemy managed to dodge it, this time by applying movement magic to move his body backwards and self-acceleration magic to accelerate the act of him moving backwards such that he could move backwards by a large distance and thus miss the incoming blow by a safe margin.

Upon landing onto the ground after his magic had fully finished showing its effects, the enemy soldier immediately started firing upon Ani again.

However, the bullets disappeared before they could even hit Ani as the power of Ani's silver-white 'wings' increased significantly.

His 'wings' suddenly flew to the sides of the enemy soldier, hitting the beach sand on both sides of the enemy. The explosive impact blew the sand into the air and towards the enemy soldier's body from all sides. With the high level of force (arising from the aforementioned explosive impact) experienced by the beach sand, the beach sand that swiftly flew towards the enemy soldier's body would have the impact of normal bullets or grenade fragments. As such, when the enemy soldier tried to escape by accelerating his movement backwards, his accelerating body crashed straight into the approaching 'dangerous' sand which flew towards him from the back.

Consequently, the enemy soldier was pierced by 'dangerous' beach sand from all directions, and especially from the back. As the enemy bent down in pain and dropped his machine gun, Ani flew forward towards the enemy's position. The enemy soldier tried to perform a leg tackle on him but Ani simply jumped over the enemy's leg tackle before he thrust his 'blade' forward at the enemy.

The enemy quickly moved to the side to avoid the blow but by the time he did that, Ani was already on the ground, preparing for his next attack. Ani bent down slightly as he quickly spun around once, allowing one of his 'wings' to sweep over the ground in a wipe arc but the enemy simply jumped over the attack before he took out his handgun and started firing at Ani while in mid-air.

The bullets disappeared as soon as they hit Ani but while the enemy was firing at him, Ani thrust his 'blade' upwards and pierced through the gun and into the right arm and hand of the enemy. As Ani withdrew his 'blade', the enemy briefly ground his teeth in pain before he took out his combat knife with his other hand and slashed at Ani.

Ani simply sliced through the metal of the combat knife with his 'blade' before he thrust his 'blade' forward and pierced through the enemy's left shoulder. The moment Ani removed his 'blade', the enemy lashed out with both of his legs extended outwards as he attempted to deal one final blow to Ani before he died.

However, Ani simply shielded himself with one of his 'wings' and as both feet and legs 'hit' the 'wing', they disappeared. As the enemy soldier fell to the ground, helpless, Ani simply walked up to him before saying something to him.

From what I could make out from his lip movements, it was something along the lines of:

'You were a good opponent. Now, allow me to see you off.'

Ani then thrust his 'blade' into the neck of the fallen soldier, ending his torment.

When Ani withdrew his 'blade', I could see no bloodstains on it even though it had already taken the lives of countless enemies. Instead, it still looked as pristine and beautiful as ever.

As Ani lowered his blade, the setting sun cast a bright orange glow onto Ani's body, highlighting his subtle good looks and strong physique as well as drawing even more attention to his exquisite silver-white 'blade' and beautiful silver-white 'wings'.

Ani then slowly turned around and directly faced the cameras observing the battle.

Afterwards,

he silently mouthed out the words:

"I'm waiting, Yotsuba."

* * *

Sorry for the long delay! Finishing this chapter took a longer time than expected, especially the fight scenes with the enemy land forces. Thank you for all your positive reviews so far. Please review!


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Revelations

Disclaimer: I do not own Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei or any of its vibrant characters

* * *

(Tatsuya's POV)

As I watched the sun slowly start to rise, casting an orange-yellow glow on the beach, I ran my hands over the rough surface of the big rock that I was seating on.

After the completion of the battle, I found a big rock which I could sit and rest on. Initially, I analyzed the Eidos of my own body, copying the information structure of my fully-rested self from before the battle began and using that copy to rewrite the current information structure of my body. Afterwards, I would carry out the same procedure every four hours, except I would use the copy of the information structure of my fully-rested body from four hours ago to rewrite the current information structure of my body.

This way, I could keep my body in optimal form over long periods of time without actual rest or sleep while overcoming the 'past 24 hours' rule that I'm faced with when it comes to analyzing the information structure of my past self.

Well, this also gave me an advantage over others when it came to working or fighting.

A worker will eventually get physically and mentally exhausted after hours of work.

This is even more so for a soldier or magician who had already fought for many hours.

Therefore, after many hours, their performance would inevitable start to slip.

However, using this procedure, I could perpetually keep myself in optimal condition for working or fighting.

Hence, my performance would be perpetually maintained at its best possible level.

I sighed as I watched the sun continue to rise slowly but surely.

'I'm waiting for you, Miyuki.'

* * *

(Miyuki's POV)

As I sat at the table in the middle of the military control room, I tried my best to maintain my neutral facial expression but I was failing miserably.

Right now,

Ani was waiting for me.

No.

Not just me.

Ani was also waiting for okaa-sama and Aunt Maya.

Yet,

why?

Why am I still here?

Why am I still here,

waiting for the meeting between me, okaa-sama and Maya obaa-san to start?

Why,

when Ani was waiting for us, for me, right now?

The battle in Okinawa had ended in Japan's victory. Ani had single-handedly destroyed the entire enemy naval and air forces. There were no survivors from those two respective forces. It appears that the entire operation had being organized and managed by high-ranking military officers of the Great Asian Alliance on board one of the enemy ships which was completely annihilated. As such, the army was unable to capture any of the leaders of the invasion forces. The scale of destruction of those two forces was so great that the Japanese Army couldn't even salvage any information or data that could have been found on the enemy ships or aircraft. As such, the army could only try to salvage whatever information they could get from the few lower-ranking enemy land soldiers that they were able to capture.

After all, Ani had pretty much decimated most of the enemy land forces all by himself, with all the high-ranking enemy land commanders dead. Well, admittedly, the army had also played a role in contributing to this dilemma since it finished off most of whatever remnants of the enemy land forces were left after Ani's destructive rampage, killing a few high-ranking enemy land commanders in the process.

Yet, even after the battle was over, the army did not move aggressively to fortify the defenses of Okinawa Island. Neither did they try to engage Ani, either in a fight to neutralize him or in a conversation to try to bring him over to their side. Instead, they just left him alone, resting on the beach.

It would appear that Aunt Maya had pulled some strings.

The current situation right now was complicated yet extraordinarily simple as well.

Right now, Ani was no longer a guardian or a servant of the Yotsuba.

Right now, he was no longer my guardian.

That meant that the Yotsuba no longer had any legitimate claim over him other than the fact that Ani is the biological son of Shib-no Yotsuba Miya since Ani had sworn an oath not to the Yotsuba clan but to me, Shiba Miyuki.

However, this fact and the resulting justification for the claim over him were somewhat negated by the fact that the Yotsuba does not consider him as one of their own.

Therefore, in order to regain their claim over him, the Yotsuba would have to formally acknowledge him as a member of the Yotsuba clan.

Yet, this is easier said than done.

Most of the clan despises or looks down on Ani, seeing him as a 'defective' magician not worthy of carrying the Yotsuba name.

They would surely oppose the action of formally accepting him as a Yotsuba.

While Aunt Maya, the head of the family, certainly had enough power to overrule them, carrying out such actions would threaten the unity of the clan.

However, it was not like the Yotsuba could just like Ani go.

After all, he had pretty much just showed 'Strategic-class' magic power and annihilated an army from the Great Asian Alliance. The very fact of his existence as a Japanese citizen living in Japan was significant enough to tilt the balance of power in the region and perhaps the world in Japan's favor.

He would, to put it bluntly, be a trump card that the Yotsuba would be a fool to discard since he could be used to advance the interests of both Japan and the Yotsuba clan, with the latter being more prominent than the former.

As such, the Yotsuba would have to seriously consider choosing between accepting him as one of their own or not.

Well, for the Yotsuba, there was always the option of killing him but that was unlikely since if Ani could destroy an entire army from a world power practically all by himself, even if the Yotsuba gathered all their forces against him, they would probably all be annihilated by the end of the day.

Therefore, the situation remained as it is: should the Yotsuba accept him and advance their interests or satisfy their pride and discard him?

As the door opened, two women with identical looks entered.

Yotusba Maya and Shiba Miya had arrived.

* * *

As Maya obaa-san and okaa-sama both sat down, I could not help but notice the stark similarities and differences between them.

Both of them had identical looks, they both had the same height and both of them had the same desirable womanly curves.

However, while aunt Maya looked sharp and energetic, okaa-sama looked worn out and tired from the events of the day.

"Well then, let's start our discussion." Aunt Maya stated.

As both okaa-sama and I nodded our heads in agreement, Aunt Maya went on.

"As you all know, Tatsuya has just annihilated the army from the Great Asian Alliance. This has caused major political shifts in the region and the world. Under these circumstances, it would be best for the Yotsuba to try and keep a lid on things."

"Well…I agree with you on this, Maya. However, Tatsuya has so far refused to return." Okaa-sama said uneasily.

I fidgeted nervously at my mother's words.

After all, I was the one who had indirectly caused the current situation in the first place with my selfishness and recklessness in dismissing Ani from his guardian duties.

This did not escape the two sharp women's notice.

"Miyuki, what's wrong?" Okaa-sama asked sharply.

I gulped nervously as I tightened both my hands into fists.

"Ani no longer has any obligation to us, the Yotsuba." I said with a guilty tone.

The temperature in the room suddenly dropped rapidly and this time, it had nothing to do with my magic.

"What was that, Miyuki?" Aunt Maya asked 'sweetly'.

I gathered up my courage and I started to repeat myself again.

"I said: Ani no longer has any obligation to us, the Yotsuba."

"Now, Miyuki, why would you say something like that? Tatsuya is your guardian. He is bound to you, and by extension us, the Yotsuba, for the rest of his life." Aunt Maya said with a dangerously 'sweet' tone.

"I had released him from his duties as a guardian before the battle." I let out nervously.

Now, it was okaa-sama's turn to speak out.

"Why would you do something like that?" Okaa-sama asked out sharply with anger in her tone.

I looked down at my tightened fists on my lap as I started to explain.

"As Ani was evacuating me from the house, his plan was just to bring me to safety. He did not intend to come back for Okaa-sama and Sakurai-san. I got furious at that and when I ordered him to take me back to you, okaa-sama, and Sakurai-san, he disregarded my order and said that my safety was his highest priority, and that he would even disregard my order if it meant securing my safety. I lost my temper then and, as a result, I dismissed him from his duties as a Guardian."

Aunt Maya and okaa-sama looked at each other before sighing as one.

If this wasn't a very serious situation, I would have found this intriguing especially since they were identical twins.

However, I was in no mood to consider such a thing right now.

"Well, Tatsuya's decision as a Guardian was the right one. Sakurai-san would probably do the same thing if she was in the same position as he was."

"Hayama-san would probably have done the same thing as well, had it been me that was in danger."

As both okaa-sama and Maya obaa-sama gave statements that defended (?) Ani's actions at the time, I could not help but feel even more ashamed than I already am at my childish and selfish behavior towards Ani.

"As Ani is no longer my guardian nor is he a servant of the Yotsuba family, we no longer have any claim over him. Unless he swears another oath to become my guardian again or he swears a new oath to become a servant of the Yotsuba family, both of which are unlikely, we cannot enact any form of a claim over him." I stated.

"Wait, Miyuki. Why do you say that Tatsuya is unlikely to swear another oath to become your guardian again? You are literally the most important person in his life. He loves you." Aunt Maya let out.

Her words surprised me, even as I felt a little happier on the inside when I heard her say that Ani loves me. Yet why I felt happy, I do not know.

But after feeling slightly happier, an immense feeling of frustration and sadness erupted from within me.

"Then, why? Why won't he return to my side? Why won't he come back to ask me to accept him back as my guardian?" I let out in frustration.

Certainly, I knew that I was the one being unreasonable here.

After all, the one who dismissed Ani from his position in a fit of childishness was me.

If anything, I should be the one begging Ani to be my guardian again.

But even so, I still felt immense frustration.

Why?

Why won't he return to my side?

He has been by my side since I was six.

Yet, why?

Why is he waiting for me on the beach?

Why isn't he coming to me instead?

Didn't he say that he cared about me above all else?

"Miya, so that's the situation here. Given the circumstances, you should know what we have to do." Aunt Maya said as she turned to look at okaa-sama.

"Yes, I know." Okaa-sama answered with some difficulty.

Aunt Maya then turned to face me.

"Miyuki, let me tell you the truth about Tatsuya."

* * *

Elemental Sight.

The ability to read the information structures of 'objects'.

Decomposition magic.

The ability to decompose information structures, magic sequences and (with the implanting of the artificial magic processor in Ani's brain) activation sequences. By decomposing the information sequence of an 'object', the 'object' fades into nothingness, as if it never existed in the first place.

Reconstruction magic.

The ability to take a copy of the state of the information structure of an 'object' within the past 24 hours and using it to rewrite the current information structure of the same 'object'.

Gram Demolition.

The ability to use a large amount of psions and the resulting high psion pressure to destroy information structures of activation and magic sequences.

Gram Dispersion.

The ability to decompose magic sequences into psions without a meaningful structure.

These are the magic abilities that my brother has. According to both okaa-sama and Maya obaa-sama, Ani had also developed variations of his decomposition and reconstruction abilities to form different spells.

Most likely, those 'wings' and the 'blade' that I saw were also variations of his decomposition ability.

The silver fire that I saw was also likely to be another variation of his decomposition ability as well.

From his limited range of specific magic, Ani had managed to develop a deadly set of spells that was more than capable of decimating an entire army.

His martial arts was also superb, comprising of moves from a variety of fighting styles around the world, including Japanese, Chinese and Russian martial art styles.

Ani had also learnt how to use a knife, a sword, a katana, a wide range of guns and bombs and he also possessed a flair for strategy, which could be noticed in the order in which he had quickly and systematically eliminated the key components of the enemy invasion force, leading to its defeat.

To top it all off, he also had extensive medical knowledge as well.

In other words, he was the ultimate fighting machine.

This was the first part of the 'truth' that Aunt Maya had told me about.

While the first part of the 'truth' made me feel awed and ashamed at the same time for looking down on my brother for so long, the second part of the 'truth' broke my heart.

Ani was a 'Born Specialist' (BS) magician.

He had all these highly specialized and 'Strategic-class' magic available to him but because he was unable to alter the information sequences like other magicians, he was considered 'defective' by the Yotsuba and relegated to the position of a servant, a guardian.

In order to make him a full-fledged magician, Aunt Maya and his own mother operated on him, installing an artificial magic processor into his brain. However, the artificial processor could not keep up with his own natural processor and thus Ani could only access magic that required only short steps quickly, with his own activation speed when casting other complex magic being too slow.

Furthermore, the 'failed' operation caused Ani to lose his emotions or to be more exact, his 'urges'. This caused him to be emotionless.

However, according to okaa-sama, the one emotion that Ani had left was "brotherly love", that is, "love for his sister".

Why this was so, none of us knew.

But according to both okaa-sama and obaa-sama, it was almost fitting that the only remaining emotion left in Ani would be 'brotherly love' since he had showed an unusual interest (?) in me since I was three, which was quite some time before I was born.

Why he held an unusual 'interest' in me was not known to okaa-sama and obaa-sama but still, his abilities and the fact that the last remaining emotion left to him was 'brotherly love' made him the 'perfect' guardian for me.

That's why he was selected to become my guardian.

I became his 'leash', preventing him from using his full power while forcing him to stay by the Yotsuba's side even as the entire clan (except for a select few like Aunt Maya, Hayama-san and Sakurai-san) despised and openly mocked him.

Suddenly, the selfish and awful way that I have been treating him all these years, my ungrateful self and the negative way in which I had viewed him with for a long time surfaced into my mind.

Almost immediately, the crushing weight of guilt fell upon my shoulders as I felt tears threaten to spill from my eyes.

My selfish actions.

My reprehensible behavior.

It was ultimately because of me that Ani did not want to return to my side.

It was ultimately because of my selfishness that Ani's patience, Ani's love for me had finally been worn out.

It was all my fault!

"There are only two options before us." Aunt Maya declared solemnly.

Following her solemn declaration, okaa-sama followed up.

"Our first option is to co-opt him back into the Yotsuba. We could either give him a position as a servant or guardian again, or we could formally acknowledge him as a member of the Yotsuba clan.

Aunt Maya then continued.

"Our second option is to try and suppress him. Given his abilities, we cannot just let him run free. It is unlikely that we would be able to seal his abilities again. In that case, we would have no choice but to kill him.

At the word 'kill', I shuddered.

Somehow, after hearing all that Ani had sacrificed for me, I could not bear the thought of his death.

"Well, I said that we would have no choice but to kill him but that is practically impossible. During the battle, he did not use his abilities to the greatest extent. Even without using his abilities to the greatest extent, he was still able to easily annihilate an army from a superpower like the Great Asian Alliance. In that case, I doubt that we would be able to defeat him even if we brought the full might the clan to bear. If the clan is destroyed in the process of killing him, everything would be for naught." Aunt Maya admitted with a surprising honesty.

It was almost as if she admired Ani's abilities, despite the fact that he could probably destroy her precious clan if he chose to do so.

"That's why I would prefer it if we could settle this peacefully. Well, even if we cannot kill him, I'm sure we can at least cause some serious damage to him so we could use that to threaten him to accept the first option." Aunt Maya said, though it was obvious that she did not really believe that her threat would actually be of any news since Ani could just 'restore' himself with his reconstruction ability.

"So Miyuki, which option do you choose?" Okaa-sama asked.

Huh?

Why was she asking me?

Ultimately, even if I'm one of the successors to the position of the head of the Yotsuba clan, I still have only limited influence and power within the clan.

Aunt Maya could probably destroy me on the spot, if she so wished so.

So then, why did okaa-sama not ask Aunt Maya instead?

Why did she ask me?

"Miyuki, Maya and I have decided that we would follow your decision."

!

Almost as if she read my mind, okaa-sama answered thus.

"Ultimately, Tatsuya is your former guardian. Though it pains me to say this, you are partly to blame for the current situation since you are the one who dismissed him in the first place."

What okaa-sama was saying was true.

What okaa-sama was saying was undeniable.

But even so!

To leave the decision to me!

"Take responsibility for yourself, Miyuki. Tatsuya is no longer here to protect you. You were the one who drove him away so you have to take responsibility for that."

I see.

I understand now.

"Okaa-sama!"

So this is my punishment.

"Obaa-sama!"

This is my punishment for treating Ani so harshly for the past six years.

"I choose the first option!"

If this is to be my punishment,

"So please!"

then,

"Please let me have him back as my guardian!"

so be it.

* * *

(Tatsuya's POV)

I have waited for an entire day already.

But still, Miyuki did not come.

Using my 'sight', I can tell that she had remained in the military base for the whole day.

However,

as the sun had started to set,

Miyuki had come to the beach.

With the brilliant orange glow of the setting sun shining upon her, Miyuki looked stunning.

However, she was not alone.

By her side were two identical twins, Yotsuba Maya and Shiba Miya, CADs drawn and ready for use.

Beside Yotsuba Maya was Hayama-san, her butler and guardian, a dangerous opponent.

Besides Shiba Miya was Sakurai Honami-san, her guardian.

Both guardians were armed to the teeth, each with a handgun hanging from a barrel on their left sides while holding a CAD with their right hand. This way, they could use their CADs with their right hands while using their handguns with their left hands. It would be difficult (but not impossible) to pull this off simultaneously but if anyone could do it, it would definitely have been those two.

They were all tense and on edge.

Even if they all had a calm expression on their face, you could tell that if you made one wrong move, they would immediately draw out their weapons and fire on you.

However, Miyuki was different.

Certainly, she was tense though she seemed to be trying very hard to appear calm and relaxed.

However, when I looked deep into her eyes, I could tell that she was heartbroken.

Ignoring the slight pain in my heart, I started.

"Let's have a talk, Miyuki."

* * *

Well, then! That's that! Chapter 9 is finally complete. In chapter 10, the final chapter, everything will come together as Tatsuya's real intentions are revealed along with the real reason behind Shiba Tatsurou's presence in Okinawa. After I have completed Different beginning, I will start making the sequels to it which would cover the arcs that many of you want as well as the years in which Tatsuya was absent from Miyuki's life. Before I release the sequels though, I will be conducting a poll to see if the readers want me to continue with the series or not. If I get enough 'yes' votes, I will continue the series. So please, come vote! Please review as well!


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Farewell

Disclaimer: I do not own Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei or any of its vibrant characters

Please don't forget to vote in the polls over whether or not I should continue this series! The more votes I get, the better I can gauge the opinion of the readers!

* * *

(Miyuki's POV)

"Before we start, I would like you to know that I'm already aware of the truth." I stated seriously.

"Oh…the truth?" Ani questioned curiously.

Faced with this curious inquiry, I focused my eyes on him and answered.

"Yes, I know the truth about you. Your abilities, your past and the reason why our family has ended up like this."

"I see. As expected, madam has already told you about me. Or perhaps, it is Aunt Maya who told you about it?" Ani inquired.

He still referred to okaa-sama as 'madam' yet he referred to Maya obaa-sama as 'Aunt Maya'? It seems that even till now, he only acknowledges okaa-sama as his biological mother but not as his real mother.

However, he referred to Maya obaa-sama as 'Aunt'.

Does this mean that he considers Maya obaa-sama as family?

Yet, he does not consider okaa-sama and me as family?

"Both." I replied resolutely.

"Both?" He asked.

"Yes. Both of them told me the truth, together." I replied.

My reply seemed to amuse Ani as he started to chuckle wryly.

"Ha ha ha…I see, I see. Before you were to confront me, they wanted to give you sufficient information so that you would at least have a decent chance of success in achieving whatever it is that you are planning. How astute. Well, it isn't very surprising. Information warfare, the possession, trading and application of useful information, is what the Yotsuba is specialized in since quite some time ago." Ani said wryly.

Upon hearing this praise (?), I could only nod my head in acknowledgement.

After all, everything that he has said so far was true.

I could not deny them.

No, even if I could, I did not want to deny them.

I am already sick and tired of all the lies and hidden truths.

I want a fresh start with Ani, no more lies, no more hidden truths.

Just pure honesty.

"So now that you know this, I have a request to make of you." I stated.

"Oh? What is it?" Ani asked with a hint of curiosity in his tone.

I put my feet together as I bowed to him.

"I apologize for my rude and selfish behavior these past six years. I apologize for dismissing you unfairly back in the forest and finally, I apologize for not treating fairly despite all that you have sacrificed for me. If you would please forgive me, I would like to ask you to become my guardian again." I asked sincerely.

A sad expression came upon Ani's face as both his hands tightened and became fists. I could see an expression of hurt in his eyes and his mouth trembled slightly.

However, as if what I saw was merely an illusion, Ani's uncharacteristic expressions disappeared within seconds as a small, sad smile came upon his face.

"I see. My past self would have agreed to your request in a heartbeat but I'm a different person now. I'm not who I was six years earlier. I'm sorry Miyuki but I cannot agree to your request." Ani said sadly even as he gave me a sincere apology.

Though his apology was sincere, his rejection still broke my heart.

Did he really hate me that much?

Did he really resent me that much?

As okaa-sama stated, the only emotion that was left in Ani after his operation was 'brotherly love'.

For him to reject a request from his sister…did that mean all the hatred, all the resentment that was built up in him finally reached a point where it overrided his supposed remaining emotion?

Again, my sins seemed to weigh even heavier on my shoulders after his rejection.

"I can pretty much guess what you are thinking, Miyuki." Ani suddenly stated.

At his sudden statement, I could only freeze in shock.

"You are not wrong."

My heart suddenly clenched painfully at his words.

"But you are not completely correct, either."

Only to suddenly unclench upon hearing his surprising words.

"Let's start with your misconceptions first. You said that madam and obaa-sama told you the truth, right?" Ani inquired.

Upon seeing me nod my head in agreement, he continued on.

"Well then, they should have also told you about my abilities. However, I have to ask, did they say that they knew about the full extent of my abilities?"

Seeing me shake my head in denial, he continued.

"Well then, if both of them do not know the true extent of my abilities, can you really be certain that they told you the complete and honest truth?"

!

Wait…what was he saying?

Was he implying that both of them had lied to me?

No.

He wasn't implying that.

He was implying something different.

Imperfect information.

In economic theory, imperfect information on the part of consumers and producers resulted in less than optimal consumption and production decisions. As a result, consumption and production levels are not at the socially optimal point. This results in market failure.

In this case, since okaa-sama and obaa-sama both did not possess perfect information about Ani's abilities, or to be more specific, both of them did not possess sufficient accurate information about the true extent of Ani's abilities, the information that they passed onto me, that is, the 'truth' about Ani, was imperfect.

Therefore, this resulted in my less than optimal, or in other words, imperfect decisions when I was confronting Ani.

"How can you say that you know the 'truth' when you do not know the true extent of my abilities?"

"In an actual battle, a 'truth' with this level of imperfections would have led to your death, Miyuki. Fortunately, this is not an actual battle. Now then, let me reveal a bit more of the 'truth' about you."

"Originally, after the operation that I had, the only emotion that was supposed to remain within me was 'brotherly love'. However, what I lost were the normal 'urges' that normal humans would possess. Yet, this does not mean that I have actually lost my emotions. It is just that their intensity has been lowered, that's all. Now, this means that I can still feel happiness, curiosity, anger…and resentment."

Upon hearing the word 'resentment' come out from his mouth, I stiffened slightly.

"Certainly, I did not really care about the harsh and unfair treatment that the Yotsuba has given me. After all, I was able to stay at your side and I was satisfied with that. However, you were exceptionally cold to me. If you had treated me like a normal servant and bodyguard, just like how other renowned families treat their own servants and bodyguards nowadays, I would have been content. Yet, you treated me worse than that."

At his (true) accusation, I could only remain silent.

After all, he was speaking the truth.

Nowadays, renowned families generally treated their own servants and bodyguards more kindly and politely, especially when compared to how renowned families treated them in the past.

However, I have only treated Ani unfairly these past six years.

As such, I could only remain silent as I heard him accuse me of unjust treatment.

"This resulted in the building up of some resentment within me. However, this build-up of resentment was also accelerated by the harsh treatment that the Yotsuba clan has given me over the years. The only ones who ever treated me kindly were Sakurai-san, Hayama-san and to some extent, Aunt Maya."

Ah…I see.

I understand now.

The reason why Ani addressed Maya obaa-sama as 'Aunt' but referred to okaa-sama as 'madam' was really because he considered obaa-sama as his family which did not include okaa-sama.

And this stemmed from the fact that it was 'Aunt Maya', not okaa-sama, who had treated him kindly (?).

Following this line of reasoning, does this mean that he does not consider me as his family as well?

"After five years, the resentment had finally become too much and I decided to leave."

At his words, my breath hitched.

He had already decided to leave, long before this trip.

Does that mean that even if I retained him as my guardian, he still would have left my side?

"I started making preparations for my departure about a year ago. By then, I had already saved up a considerable amount of money due to the large 'allowances' I was given over the years. Furthermore, at that point in time, I had already started my own businesses as well. The profits that these businesses earned, combined with my savings, would have been more than enough to last me for quite a while. However, I still could not leave. Every time I felt like leaving, I would always hesitate at the very last second. After all, no matter how coldly you behaved towards me, I had still wanted to stay by your side, even if I had to remain as a guardian and thus bear unfair treatment. I didn't want to break my oath. However, I still knew that the time for my departure was fast approaching. I didn't know the exact date and time but I could feel it."

My heart tightened painfully as my fists clenched

So even till then, he still wanted to remain by my side?!

Even after all that the Yotsuba had done to him?!  
Even after how harshly I treated him?!

Then, what changed?

What pushed him to finally leave my side?

Ah…

I see.

The one who pushed him over the brink

and resulted in him finally leaving my side

was none other than me.

"Yes, Miyuki. The thing that finally pushed me to leave was your dismissal of me from my guardian duties. From then on, I was no longer a guardian, a servant of the Yotsuba family. To be more specific, I was no longer your servant, your guardian. I could now leave without breaking my oath to you. The rejection that I felt when you dismissed me also convinced me that it was finally time that I left your side."

No. No. No.

What have I done?!

"Wait, Ani-" I started out, only to be stopped as Ani raised a hand to silence me.

"However, I still did not wish to leave you undefended. Furthermore, the fact is that I, Shiba Tatsuya, am the biological son of Shiba Miya, the child of Shiba Tatsurou and the brother of Shiba Miyuki."

"Therefore, before I left, I wanted to fulfil my final duties to all of you, including Sakurai-san who had taken care of me for most of my childhood. As such, I decided to eliminate the threat to the safety of all of you."

The threat to our safety?

The destruction of the Great Asian Alliance invasion force!

At this realization, I could only open my mouth slightly, out of shock.

"Of course, the way that I destroyed the invasion force was also meant to send out a message."

Message?

What message was he trying to send?

To whom was he trying to send his message to?

To the Japanese military?

To the Great Asian Alliance?

To the world?

Or was it...

"You were trying to send a message to the Yotsuba." Aunt Maya stated flatly.

"Yes, I was." Ani confirmed.

However, this time it was not Ani who continued but Aunt Maya.

"At first, you showcased your great destructive power when you eliminated all the sixty enemy drones within seconds as well as when you obliterated the entire enemy air and naval forces with your silver flames, a variation of your decomposition ability. However, you did not perform such displays merely to showcase your great destructive power. By destroying the drones, you destroyed the intelligence gathering ability of the enemy invasion force, giving Japan's forces an information advantage. Without sufficient and accurate intelligence, the enemy also could not effectively determine where Japan's forces were thus resulting in less than optimal battlefield decisions and thus performance on the part of the invasion force."

At these words, Ani only nodded in confirmation.

"By destroying the entire enemy naval and air forces, you eliminated the ability of the enemy to use naval artillery and aerial strikes to support their land units. You also eliminated their reinforcements and supplies in the process. Furthermore, their escape route was now cut with no clear orders coming from their superiors since their superiors had perished along with the ships that you destroyed. This systematic way of rapidly eliminating key components and advantages of the enemy invasion force was meant to showcase your impressive ability to plan and implement strategies and tactics. Finally, you destroyed the land forces, using your 'blade' of decomposition to strike down many enemies. In the process, you engaged a high-ranking military officer in battle. Though you could have easily won by quickly decomposing him, you allowed him to draw the battle out so as to showcase your ability to engage and win in physical combat. This would also explain why you took similar actions and directly engaged some of the other enemy soldiers in physical combat as well."

By the time that Aunt Maya got to this part of her explanation, a small, cruel smile had started to make its way onto Ani's face.

"All these actions you took to showcase these specific abilities of yours, it was meant to send a message to the Yotsuba: Even without using my full strength, I can still easily annihilate an entire invasion force from a world power. I'm also not limited to using pure magic power. I can engage in direct physical combat and win as well as rapidly plan and implement effective tactics and strategies. That's why, if the Yotsuba clan does not wish to be annihilated, then it should not try to pursue and imprison, or kill me. But if you try to do so, then choose, a quick death via decomposition or a slow, painful decline in the clan eventually leading to the demise of all its members. In other words, this is your declaration of independence from the Yotsuba clan." Maya obaa-sama finished.

"Exactly. You are completely correct, Aunt Maya. I would expect no less from the head of the Yotsuba family, the Demon Lord of the Far East, Yotusba Maya." Ani praised with a hint of sincerity in his tone.

However, Aunt Maya merely looked at him stoically.

"As you have surmised, this is my declaration of independence. Well technically, now that I am no longer bound by my oath to Miyuki, I am, by extension, no longer bound to the Yotsuba family as well. I never swore an oath that directly bound my loyalty to the Yotsuba, after all. So what I'm doing now technically isn't declaring my independence from the Yotsuba. It isn't sedition, betrayal or a rebellion as well." Ani said wryly.

At this, a playful (?) smirk started to make its way onto Aunt Maya's face.

"Oh? So now that you are no longer bound to the Yotsuba, what do you plan on doing?" Aunt Maya inquired.

A resolute look came upon Ani's face as he replied.

"I'm planning on leaving Japan. I'm going to start living my own life."

"You plan on leaving the country? Do you really think that you can do that? You just displayed Strategic-Class magic. Your power would serve as a very useful tool to advance Japan's interests. Do you really think that the Japanese government will let you leave so easily, let alone the Yotsuba?" Aunt Maya questioned (warned).

"Do you really think that they can stop me?" Ani asked back.

At this rhetorical question, Aunt Maya's smirk became even wider.

"Certainly, the Japanese government will not be able to stop you. After all, there is only one official Strategic-Class magician on the Japanese government's side, Itsuwa Mio, whom you could easily defeat, especially given her weak body and the limitations of her Strategic-Class magic. But don't forget, the Japanese government probably has other Strategic-Class magicians, not to mention the Ten Masters Clans, other distinguished magician families and the military on its side." Aunt Maya said, the warning in her tone becoming increasingly evident.

"True. It would be difficult to destroy them all but I could pull it off, given sufficient time." Ani admitted honestly before laying out a defense for himself.

"I can't deny that. But is it really worth the risk, though? You can still go back to how things were before. You can still return to being Miyuki's guardian." Aunt Maya said.

At the mention of returning to become my guardian again, Ani revealed a slightly pained expression before his expression returned to that of complete apathy.

"You mean go back to becoming a servant of the Yotsuba clan, where I would have to face the unjust treatment of the other clan members, only that this time it would be even worse, given that they would see me as a 'traitor' despite the fact that I did not actually swear my loyalty to the clan." Ani accused.

"True. I won't deny that. However, isn't Miyuki your most important person?" Aunt Maya shot back.

"She is and will always remain as the most important person in my life." Ani said sincerely.

Upon hearing his words, my heart skipped a beat as my face started to become very red.

"Yet you still won't return?" Aunt Maya asked back.

"I won't. I will seek out my own path in life." Ani replied resolutely.

"So your resolve is that strong, huh? Unfortunately, I can't let you do that. Shiba Tatsuya, I'm taking you into the custody of the Yotsuba until the time comes when you are a bit more amiable to us." Aunt Maya stated.

Shortly after her statement,

the world turned into night.

The sun had still not fully set yet so such darkness should not have filled the sky.

However,

this was no ordinary darkness.

This was the prized magic of Yotsuba Maya, the Demon Lord of the Far East, 'Meteor Line'.

'Stars' that shone in the 'darkness' could be seen hovering in the sky.

However,

just as the rays of light are shot out,

the darkness dissipated

and the world returned to normal.

"Ho…to think that you can shatter my prized magic, 'Meteor Line', so easily. Still, do you really think that the battle is over? After all, I'm not alone." Aunt Maya said.

At her statement, a magic 'shield' was immediately formed to protect me and okaa-sama while Hayama-san immediately took out a gun and fired at Ani.

* * *

(Tatsuya's POV)

As the bullets reached my body, they suddenly disappeared into dust. I immediately used my natural decomposition magic to decompose both his gun and his CAD. However while I was doing so, the world had again turned into 'night'.

Meteor Line was Aunt Maya's innate magic. Thus, directly interfering with it via interference strength would be difficult. As Gram Demolition and Gram dispersal only destroyed the information structures of magic and activation sequences, thus while I could use it to destroy her magic and activation sequences, it would not be of much use in this situation since by the time I used it, Aunt Maya's rays of light, which are physical phenomena acting as a medium for her magic and thus would not have been by my two specialized anti-magic spells, would have taken effect.

As such, I immediately used my 'sight' to see Aunt Maya's magic sequence before analyzing it to determine the coordinates in which the rays of light would travel through. Quite a decent amount of the final coordinates where the rays of light would eventually reach were specified on different parts of my body. However, if I was struck at these locations, I wouldn't die though I would be temporarily incapacitated.

Interesting…so she really was just trying to capture me, not kill me.

After identifying the coordinates in which light would travel through, I used my 'Reconstruction' ability.

Analyzing the Eidos of the 'objects' at these locations, I identified and made a copy of the past states of the information structures of these 'objects' before the light had passed through them and caused structural alteration, and then I used these copies to rewrite the current states of the information structures of these objects such that it made it seem like the structural alteration of these 'objects' never happened.

This allowed me to directly interfere with her magic without the use of Gram Demolition, Gram Dispersal and my interference strength.

As soon as I had interfered with her magic, Hayama-san was already closing in on me, his fist clenched. I quickly went to focus my 'sight' on sand particles on the ground around Aunt Maya and Hayama-san before proceeding to decompose them directly into energy.

The large amount of energy blew the sand up into the air and caused the sand to fly towards both Aunt Maya and Hayama-san. The resulting pressure on the sand particles was enough to give them enough penetrating power to penetrate into the flesh of both Hayama-san and Aunt Maya.

* * *

(Miyuki's POV)

As Hayama-san and Aunt Maya collapsed onto the ground, their bodies riddled with formerly high-pressure sand particle projectiles, Ani stepped forward with his right hand raised to his chest level.

Immediately, a silver-white 'blade' of light appeared from the top of his right wrist.

He slashed down upon the 'shield' that Sakurai-san had put up.

Earlier on, the 'shield' had defended us from Ani's heat-based sand projectile attacks.

However, that 'shield' was no more as Ani destroyed the 'shield' with one slash, the information structure of the 'shield' being decomposed and severed at the line where Ani's slash occurred.

As the shield dissipated, Sakurai-san immediately raised her gun however before she could even begin to fire any bullets, her gun and CAD were immediately decomposed by Ani.

Undeterred with the loss of both her gun and CAD, Sakurai-san immediately brought out a combat knife.

I was surprised.

After all, I did not see her bring a combat knife to our confrontation with Ani. I only saw her bring her handgun and CAD.

However, unlike me, Ani did not show any surprise even as he rapidly decomposed Sakurai-san's knife.

Sakurai-san immediately countered with a punch to the face. However, instead of decomposing her fist, Ani moved forward and blocked it with his right hand before letting loose a fist to Sakurai-san's solar plexus. As Sakurai-san doubled up in pain, Ani used his left hand to twist Sakurai-san's right arm before ruthlessly slamming his left foot down onto the back of Sakurai-san's right knee joints.

As Sakurai-san's right knee fell to the ground, Ani merely moved his elbow forward before using it to hit the back of Sakurai-san's head, causing Sakurai-san to collapse onto the ground as ell.

Immediately after this, I felt arms wrap themselves over my body as I was pulled into okaa-sama's embrace.

Okaa-sama glared at Ani as she hissed at him:

"You're not touching Miyuki!"

At her words, I felt my heart lift a little.

Despite how strict okaa-sama can be, she still loved me very much.

I could at least understand this much.

However, now was not the time to be thinking about such things.

After all, right now, Ani was pretty close to killing okaa-sama.

"Do not worry, mother. I will not harm Miyuki." Ani reassured her.

At his use of the word 'mother' to address okaa-sama, I let out a slight cry in surprise while okaa-sama's arms loosened their hold over me in shock.

After all, this was the first time that Ani referred to okaa-sama as his mother, without using the term biological.

"Do you still wish to fight, mother?" Ani asked with a hint of warning in his tone.

Suppressing her shock, okaa-sama straightened herself before replying.

"No, I concede defeat. I cannot defeat you as I am now. As long as you don't harm Miyuki, I will not go against you." Okaa-sama stated.

"Tatsuya, even if you kill us here, the Yotsuba, the Japanese government and the military will not stop going after you. You're too valuable. You should just give up here." Aunt Maya wheezed out.

Surprised, I turned towards Aunt Maya to see her eyes staring intently at Ani.

Her body as well as that of Hayama-san had been pierced by the sand particles at many different points, including their arms, legs, chest and hands. However, it seemed as though their eyes and head had been spared, thus why both of them could still turn their head towards Ani as Aunt Maya spoke to him.

"Since when were you one to give up so easily, Maya obaa-sama? I didn't picture you as the type to give in to the establishment so easily. Or, is it perhaps because you are now part of the ruling establishment of Japan?" Ani mused.

"I'm merely being practical." Aunt Maya shot back as a smile made its way upon her face despite the intense pain she was enduring.

"Aunt Maya, do you know why I even bothered to set up this whole confrontation between us? Do you really think that it was merely because I wanted to reveal more of the 'truth' to Miyuki?" Ani questioned.

"…"

"Then let me ask you another question. Haven't you wondered why my father, Shiba Tatsurou, was in the military control room along with my mother and Miyuki?"

Now that he mentioned it, I still did not know why father was there in the military control room with us. Shortly after the battle ended, father had left, saying that he had urgent business to deal with back home. By then, we were all too occupied with the aftermath of the battle to really think about why he was there in the first place and what his 'urgent business' was all about.

"On that day, father was actually visiting a business colleague at a location near Okinawa Island. Both of them had made their way to Okinawa Island for a brief period of time to meet more of their colleagues when the battle broke out. As such, they were both trapped on the island along with us and sent to the exact same military base as we were in for protection, probably because they were considered too important for Japan to lose, whether it be to enemy bullets or capture by the invaders. I was using my 'sight' to evaluate the condition of the military base we were in when I chanced upon his body's specific information structure. It was quite a fortunate coincidence since that meant that he could see me perform my final duty to him as a son." Ani explained.

"However, both that man and I did not even treat you as our son. We did not deserve to be your parents." Okaa-sama said.

"True. But I'm still your biological son and his child so I wanted to at least fulfil my duties to both of you." Ani conceded before he went on to defend his actions.

"Well, I will admit that I had one more motive for doing so." Ani admitted.

"Oh…what is it?" Okaa-sama enquired.

"If I'm correct, father was forced into this loveless marriage by the Yotsuba clan which had applied pressure on not just him but on his lover as well." Ani started.

At his words, okaa-sama's eyes narrowed at him suspiciously.

"And? What of it?"

"I wanted him to see me fight. I wanted him to see me fight against the invasion force and win against seemingly impossible odds. I wanted him to see me refuse to return to the Yotsuba by waiting at the beach for Miyuki instead of going to them. I wanted him to see me resist and win." Ani said, emphasizing his last word.

"You wanted him to feel inspired by your actions and resist the Yotsuba as well." Okaa-sama accused as a look of realization came upon her face.

At this accusation, Ani swiftly replied in the negative.

"Not exactly. But I wanted him to take back his own life just as I had. I can see that he did not come along with you. Tell me, did he leave shortly after the battle ended?"

"Yes." Okaa-sama answered, with suspicion in her tone.

"He is probably going to 'resist' the Yotsuba. Probably by running away or breaking up with you." Ani concluded.

Despite hearing Ani's predictions of a future divorce, okaa-sama's face remained impassive.

It was truly sad that their marriage was so loveless that even with talks of divorce, she did not even seem to care about it.

"Now then, I have one final gift for all of you." Ani said as he raised his right hand up.

Soon after, the bodies of both okaa-sama and obaa-sama started to glow.

Then, as if everything that had happened was merely an illusion, Hayama-san's, Aunt Maya's and Sakurai-san's bodies were lying on the ground, unconscious, with no injuries whatsoever. Okaa-sama's body was also lying on the ground however her body looked different. Unlike how usual sickly self, her body actually looked healthy right now.

* * *

(Tatsuya's POV)

As I read the Eidos of the bodies of Sakurai-san, Hayama-san, Aunt Maya and mother, I analyzed the information structures of their bodies going back up to the past 24 hours.

As I reached the 24 hours limit, I felt a lot of resistance to reading even further backwards.

Where this resistance came from, I do not know.

However,

right now,

going back to the past 24 hours was not good enough.

Not anymore.

As I focused all my attention on reading even further into the past,

I felt something crack.

As if I had pierced a barrier of some sort,

the past states of the information structures became even more numerous in number

as I found that I could suddenly read into beyond the past 24 hours.

The list of past states of information structures seemed endless as I continued to look even further backwards into time without reaching any limits or barriers.

Then, I found it.

The past states of information structures of their bodies when their bodies were younger, stronger and more powerful than they were now. It was also at a time when they were all asleep.

I then copied these past states of information structures before using these copies to rewrite the current information structures of their bodies.

As such, no injuries remained on their bodies as they all seemed healthier, stronger and younger than before.

This was my final gift to them.

Now, they could all live longer and have the strength needed to protect Miyuki in my absence.

This way, Miyuki would be safe, even when I'm no longer by her side.

As I turned, I started walking away.

However, a voice suddenly called out to me.

* * *

(Miyuki's POV)

"Ani! Please wait! Where are you going?!" I called out.

Ani froze as he slowly turned to face me.

"I'm sorry, Miyuki. I have to go. I have to pursue my own way of life." Ani let out painfully.

"Please, don't go! I'm sorry for being so selfish all the time! I'm sorry for being so mean to you! I'm sorry for not appreciating all the things that you have done for me for the past six years! So, please! Don't leave my side, Oni-sama!" I cried out desperately.

This time, Ani moved towards me as he wrapped his arms around me before capturing my lips with his own.

His tongue tangled with mine as his mouth covered my own. He slipped his tongue into my mouth and slowly, and tenderly explored the inside my mouth. His arms wrapped around my body even more tightly as my body melted into his.

How much time has passed, I do not know.

However, after what felt like an eternity, he let go of my body as he withdrew from me.

His eyes showed grief and sadness as he turned away from me again.

"I'm sorry." He let out before he continued forward.

I couldn't stop him. My body was frozen on the spot where oni-sama had just kissed me. As oni-sama continued to walk forward, the orange glow of the setting sun shone over his body.

Just before his visage completely left my sight, I saw his lips move.

From what I could make out from his lip movements, he seemed to be saying:

'It's time for a new journey.'

* * *

Finally, the conclusion to the whole story is done! The final chapter, chapter 10, is completed and if all goes well, the sequel will be ready soon as well. Anyway, the poll will be released on my profile page once this chapter is uploaded so please remember to vote on whether or not you want me to continue this series or not. Please review!


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